Mishaps and Mayhem
by Dragonseatingme
Summary: If a flirty, obsessive manager wasn't enough, the Rikkai Regulars had to have a dreamy, lost-in-her-own-world one too. Combined with an alien-like perfect Girls' Tennis team captain, their already drama-filled life just got a new plot twist. "Life, you have officially screwed me. I thank you so much for that" "Daaarling, give me your water bottle" "Connard" "Language!" "Urghh"
1. An Introduction Of Sorts

**A/N: **Heyyyyyyy everyone :D

This is my first fanfic EVER. Okay maybe not first, but the one I started earlier doesn't count. So yay :3

I love reviews like Nutella! This is an OC story based in Rikkai. Hopefully everyone will be in character *fingers crossed*. I'm bad at updates, so encouragement = faster updates :D

The pairings I've decided to an extent, but may change. So I ain't going to tell you now :P

**Disclaimer:** I don't own PoT _at all._

So without further ado,_ Mishaps and Mayhem._

* * *

Amaya Izumi was _bored. _No way else to put it, she was_ bored_. With a capital B. Followed by all the other letters. If she had a choice, she'd rather be sleeping, or even better _reading_. Her copy of _Pride and Prejudice _(Her favourite classic by the way) was currently stuffed into her bag with all her other school books. The copy was in English obviously. She could barely read Japanese properly despite being Japanese herself. "It's not like that's my fault", she thought defensively. "Who would have known I would have to move half way across the world?" (Not exactly half way though. The Earth is a globe, so an ocean away. But it's a saying, and Amaya _loved _sayings) She had lived in America. Cliché and expected? Yeah. Amaya would have loved to live somewhere exotic, maybe Spain or Peru. But _no. _Her parents _had _to quit travelling when she turned nine, and _had _to settle down in the United States of America. And not even in New York or LA, but in the middle of nowhere. _Literally. _The nearest neighbours were an estate away. Home-schooled all her life, and practically friendless, with some good and some not-so good memories in her pocket, Amaya landed in Japan one fine summer morning to enroll in the first school in all sixteen years of her life.

_Rikkaidai. _The school of the so-called Emperors. You name it, they've won it. When she first heard of the school, she wondered whether they were all aliens. They sure seemed like it. "They even walked into the hall, in perfect lines, like this was military school or something!" She said to herself. Some of the stories she'd heard of the school were downright _scary. _

Yet there she was seated in their (frankly too big) auditorium, with all the other freshmen, with her being the only non-first year in the bunch. Not that that was very noticeable. Amaya didn't have brightly coloured hair, or a presence so tangible that you would notice her in a crowd of a hundred. She wasn't tall either, nor extremely thin or fat. The first thing anyone would notice of her was that she was _short. _Like 'I stopped growing at the age of eleven' short. Adults -the few she could actually remember- often thought she was a kid. And Amaya _despised _that. She was sixteen years old with a personality to match thank you very much.

Yet sitting amidst the first years, she did feel slightly inconsequential. "I feel like a fish out of water." Amaya thought absentmindedly. "No one's going to find me here." Which was true, since no one had really attempted to converse with her, aside from the standard, 'Could you move aside please?' Amaya conveniently ignored the fact that she made no effort to make friends either. But even then Kouhai must respect Senpai right? At least that's what Amaya assumed. Home-schooled remember?

Looking around her (More like craning her neck to see. Damn her shortness) Amaya took stock of her surroundings. It was the first day of school. First days meant _assemblies. _Luckily Rikkaidai was rich enough to offer a fancy auditorium, so Amaya wasn't suffering in the heat. On the stage stood the Principal and some other random teachers whose intros Amaya hadn't bothered to listen to. They were announcing something about school toppers or something along those lines, and listing out the achievements of the past year. Which were a _lot_. And hence, Amaya not listening to them.

Despite preferring English, Amaya knew Japanese pretty well, at least enough to communicate with the greengrocer. However upon coming to school and receiving her books, Amaya realised a few broken sentences and words, weren't going to help her pass. Luckily, to her utmost joy, she was exempted from English classes; only to be put into an additional Japanese class. Joy oh joy. With a _student _tutor too! Take a home-schooled, sarcastic and a slightly rebellious teenage girl, and add a goody two shoes student to the equation. What do you get? _Chaos_. And Amaya was ready as hell to create some chaos.

Back at the auditorium, the speech _finally _came to an end, and just when Amaya thought the worst was over, the Principal stood on the dais. She perked up, hoping he would ask them to disperse, but sadly her dreams were shattered. He began announcing something important, yet, as soon as he began talking she lost interest –_again- _and looked at the rest of the students around her. The freshmen and new comers were seated in the right of the auditorium, while the teachers and other faculty occupied the first few rows in the middle of the room. The rest of the middle column was filled with third years and the left column with second years.

The minute she glanced at the other students, Amaya could notice the cliques. The students were divided into groups according to popularity. The most popular right in the centre, and then according to inconsequentiality, people were seated around in layers. The least popular were right in the edges, which Amaya found surprising, since if there was some random fire or something, they were more likely to survive then the rest, being closest to the exits and everything. She decided right then and there she would stick to the edges. She valued her life too much to lose it to something blatantly unimportant as popularity.

The jocks and cheerleaders sat right in the middle of each column. Even between them there were more groups according to the sport they played. As far as Amaya could see, the kings of school were members of the men's tennis club- the tennis bags thrown haphazardly around them helped her recognize them. Especially the Regulars. How did she figure_ that_ out? Well, she could practically see the popularity oozing out of them. It was hitting everyone in waves. "Extremely stifling" she thought. "I wouldn't want to spend too much time with them, they'd probably choke me with their arrogance." (Amaya believed in stereotypes. Therefore popularity equals pride according to her.)

The Regulars – not even in uniform, but in tennis clothes. How were they not caught? - were sitting in circle, and around them were sitting the other members of the club. A few girls who were seated close-by kept throwing them furtive glances and giggling. Amaya found it strange that they were crushing- those _were _the signs of a crush right?- on someone who probably didn't even know that they _existed_. She was still new to the whole concept of _school_. So the politics of teenagers baffled her.

Amaya grew up reading Shakespeare and fat scary looking history books. She could hold long complicated conversations on the impact of the Economic Recession of Europe on the rest of the world, or discuss the nuances of Dickens' work. She could tell you the capital of most countries of the world, or the social customs of most religions. Hell she could speak fluently in _French_! Yet, if you asked her the meaning of the word 'love', she would probably give you an answer from one of her favourite books using the flowery language of her favourite playwright, not understanding the question at all.

She _had _read modern books, if her language was any indication, but those were only here and there. She wasn't a normal teenager by any means, but that doesn't mean she was a prodigy. Her dad and mum had just focused on her education from a very young age- hashtag _home-schooled._ She didn't like using her knowledge much either, even while thinking. She found it oddly tedious, much to the horror of her parents. She preferred being simple-minded. (But when it came to impressing someone, Amaya had no qualms in using every last drop of her extensive repertoire of charms -facts no one cared about- just to be praised. She had an attitude like a cat that needed to be petted and fussed about every other day.)

"Rikkaidai is supposed to have a pretty good tennis club right?" thought Amaya absently as she looked past the members. She continued looking around, and her eyes caught sight of someone, and her eyes widened. "Is that….." And that's when she heard the shout.

* * *

A first year- who should have been sitting with the rest of the freshmen- with curly black hair and green eyes that reminded her of a Japanese version of Harry Potter, stood up from the middle of the circle of tennis regulars, in what seemed like protest and screamed, "You _can't_ be _fucking_ serious. You can't _fucking_ to that!" He was then roughly pulled down by a tall, broad shouldered teen wearing a hat. Amaya distinctly heard him say, "Tarundoru!" and then he promptly slapped the boy. ("Ouch. Did that hurt?")

The Harry Potter clone- the name she gave to the curly haired boy- pouted like a petulant child as he listened to a lecture on what Amaya assumed was about his language. However, Harry Potter clone's protest, resulted in a wave of screams from various parts of the room. "That's not _fair._" "Yeah!" "You can't meddle in our _clubs _too." "What the_ fuck?!" _

"Silence!" thundered the Principal. Amaya found it astonishing that a tiny man- tinier then even _her_- like him could actually _thunder. _"He can't pull it off" thought Amaya trying to stifle her giggles, as the man's- obviously fake- hair almost fell off. Her fellow peers however did not seem to share her amusement. They seemed quite indignant on the contrary. Like '_Who_ is this funny man, and_ what_ is he telling us to do?' Amaya also realised Rikkaidai wasn't as _disciplined _as it seemed like at first considering the fact that some students were _swearing _so blatantly in front of all the teachers.

"Hmm seems like the Principal said something scandalous" she thought, but refrained from actually figuring what it was. She just looked with interest at the students who were whispering furiously among themselves.

Amaya _loved _drama. And this seemed particularly _dramatic. _Yet to her ever wandering mind, the issue didn't spark much interest. She rarely was motivated to even wake up. Listen to a speech, which didn't even concern her? Nah.

"-to increase performance, and to ease the stress on the captains and teachers, we're making this compulsory. It's for your own good…" The Principal droned on. "My my he's still talking" thought Amaya apathetically. She tuned out, when a thought suddenly struck her. "Didn't I recognize someone before?" She racked her brains to remember, but couldn't. Figuring it wasn't of much importance- since she didn't remember- she tossed the issue aside and went back to day dreaming about when this assembly would _finally _get over.

"-thus the Faculty and School Board have agreed to make it compulsory for _all _clubs to have managers. This move has been made due to the….." There were gasps and fervent whispers, as if the Principal had at that moment predicted the end of the world. Those whispers were what brought Amaya back to from her stupor. Some students looked positively _scandalised. _Even the freshmen. Which was weird because they had just joined the school. "What is with everyone in school? It's just some dumb announcement" thought Amaya , how very wrong she was at that moment.

Amaya- pointedly ignoring everyone else- decided enough was enough. She removed _P&P _from her bag and began- to her delight- reading her favourite part.

"_In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you."_

Amaya internally squealed and promptly forgot about the rest of the world around her. "Screw everything except books" was her policy in life and she always followed it to the tee. So until the world brought her back, Amaya soared in the evangelical zeal of reading.

* * *

READ AND REVIEW?


	2. SOS Alert!

_**Mishaps and Mayhem**_

**A/N: **Thanks for the reviews everyone! :D

**XxBloodandButterfliesxX: **Thanks for your review! I'm so glad you like Amaya, she's a lot like me too. And who she recognized? You shall just have to wait and watch.

**DraconisArgentum: **Thank you! I'm so happy that you like the plot. :)

The Rikkai Regulars enter the plot in this chapter. I hope they're in character!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own PoT in any way whatsoever

* * *

**Chapter 2: **SOS Alert!

* * *

"NIOU?!"

"Sanada?"

"Why are the balls _pink_?!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

A vein pops on a forehead.

"_Niou how did this happen_? Tell me or you're running laps for the _rest of your life_."

"The possibility of Sanada carrying this threat out is 98.87% considering his complete lack of humour."

A glare is thrown in the direction of the voice.

"_Puri~ _I like those odds."

"Niou-kun, for your own good, it might be beneficial for you to admit your crime."

"Shut up Hiroshi. Don't act as if you're very innocent."

A pair of glasses is pushed up.

"I have no idea what you are talking about Niou-kun."

Another vein pops.

"TARUNDO-"

The shout is interrupted mid-way by the data-master.

"The possibility of Kirihara arriving now is 97.68%"

Just then –as calculated- the door of the locker-room is slammed open. A boy with curly black hair runs in and falls to the ground.

"Senpai! I'm so sorry I'm late. I had to take a pregnant woman to the hospital."

"You, _what_?"

"Yes Marui Senpai. And then there was this rabbit that asked me to follow it and…."

"A talking rabbit, Kirihara?"

"Uh-huh Jackal Senpai. After that I fell into a hole and and and…."

"Idiot. You think we'd believe that?"

The sound of a boy protesting is heard, as another boy pulls him down for a noogie. And somehow in the process, bubble-gum gets stuck in his hair.

"_Marui Senpai!_"

"Che. Idiot. Now my bubble-gum's stuck in your hair."

The two boys scuffle as the bald boy sighs and reaches to remove the gum.

"_My fucking hair Senpai!"_

"Stop swearing Bakaya. You're too young."

"Niou Senpai, I'm only a year younger than you!"

"_Puri_~"

A third vein pops on a head.

"_TARUNDORU_…"

A boy's arm is raised to strike when-

"My my is there a problem?"

-a voice is heard from the doorway.

Suddenly magically, the bubble-gum gets unstuck from Kirihara's hair. Marui and Jackal start stretching and Niou and Yagyuu are long gone, running their laps. Yanagi has excused himself to the club's office room too, leaving the stoic vice-captain -whose face has turned a slight unpleasant red- alone staring at the captain.

Yukimura smiles pleasantly.

"Saa, we better start training too right Genichirou?"

"Hn"

Sanada never could exercise the same control as Yukimura could on the club.

* * *

Contrary to popular belief, the tennis club at Rikkai, was in fact, not perfect_. At all. _It was quite the opposite actually as most days began the same way as this chapter began.

Despite the members all following military-like regimes and training menus, the discipline didn't really transcend into the club's daily activities. It was Rikkai's largest- and most popular- club, with about fifty odd members. Fifty odd _special _members.

While Rikkaidai's middle school division was a little more lenient, the high school division only accepted the best of the best. Only students with exceptional skills- or immense influence- could get into the school. And once you enroll, it's a rat race with no end.

Winning was the only option. And it was expected by _every _student, even if the competition was something like eating or hell even _sleeping._

Losing wasn't a word in the school's dictionary. Not even figuratively. The school had, literally, commissioned to have _every _dictionary in the library omit the word 'losing' or anything related to loss (In all languages) They thought it would show the students just how _serious_ the school was.

The students had to cut of the word 'losing' from their own copies on their first day of school as freshmen, in the school orientation and initiation programme. The teachers called it '_implementing the tradition of Rikkai onto every child'_.

The school was fanatical when it came to awards and prestige. Yet, after the number of competitions in which Rikkaidai had come forth victorious, preventing the winning stroke from dying out became a matter of pride more than anything else.

And hence, in such kinds of schools, competition bordering on _unhealthy_ is typical.

It wasn't uncommon to see signs of extreme partiality to award winning students. The school's policy was, "If you win, you can do anything." (More like an unwritten rule)

And thus, not being special at _something_ in school can have very bad consequences. Not just social exclusion, but completely _losing _yourself in the pressure. Inferiority complexes were commonplace, but the school administration never too much initiative to make the school less _belligerent. _

But finding non noteworthy students was a rarity.

Chances are the bitchiest girl in school, is actually the best dancer you could see. Or the classroom bully is-as hard as it is to believe- a math genius. _Those _were the kinds of students in Rikkai, special and unique -just not in the usual sense.

The members of tennis club-both boys' and girls'- were no exception. So peace and serenity just didn't exist in the practice sessions.

* * *

Despite it being the first day of school, the regulars had begun training a week earlier. Kirihara was the latest addition. (Not officially though, but it was practically guaranteed anyway)

When the middle-schoolers had graduated and joined the high school division, there had already been a set of senior regulars.

But they were crushed by the _immense _strength the freshmen had. It wasn't long before the entire first string consisted of members of the middle-school team, minus Kirihara. Yukimura became Buchou again and Sanada- Fukubuchou.

But that was expected. What they didn't expect was the new rule.

* * *

Yukimura sighed-not openly of course. First days were frankly quite tiring, but this particular day was even more monotonous. Maybe it was something to do with the fact that the entire team was back together after a year. And somehow, having to deal with their childish antics again made him feel slightly _old_.

Practice had started just as usual, with the standard bickering and fighting. After Yukimura had arrived, the rest of practice had gone smoothly. The Trickster-Gentleman pair ran laps the entire time, while the rest of the team had practice matches.

But this was _Rikkaidai_. Nothing was ever normal. They were all walking back to the locker rooms when Kirihara saw a rabbit. And, god bless that child, he ran after it stating that he could prove his 'Alice in Wonderland' story by catching it. Of course Marui ran behind him, and Jackal followed with a sigh. After which Niou conjured a video camera out of nowhere for blackmail, and the sadistic part of Yagyuu had him follow. Then Renji left to obtain data, and Sanada followed them with veins popping all over his forehead in anger. Yukimura's lips just twitched in laughter and he let them be. (Later he found out, that Kirihara had, in fact, caught the rabbit. Sadly it didn't speak back.)

They ended being late to the assembly, and didn't even change into uniform. But the teachers just smiled and didn't say anything. The perks of being a Nationally Ranked Tennis team, Yukimura assumed.

The thought of him becoming older made him grin "The Child of God, _old_? People will have coronaries."

Of course, people had heart-attacks every time they saw him. Whether it was due to the unfortunate circumstance of playing tennis against him, or a just seeing his dazzling looks.

A girl had once wore a shirt that said, "_Yukimura's perfection gives me a heart attack"_ while asking him out. He politely asked her whether she was feeling okay, and then rejected her. He didn't think she got the pun.

Sitting among his teammates was always a pleasure, if you took away the buzz of constant chatter. But he enjoyed watching them. It gave him a sense of fulfilment and attachment in his drifting world of techno-colour.

There weren't many people who stood out in Yukimura's world. Either he scared them off and he forgot about them, or they were just _boring. _His teammates had that one distinction of playing a proper role in Yukimura's life.

Gifted with a startling sense of maturity and understanding, Yukimura could send adults running for their money with his perception of the world around him.

He was that kind of person who could either change the world, or watch it burn. And sometimes you couldn't see that difference in his personality.

In a school like Rikkaidai, Yukimura Seichii was one of the few people who actually deserved the revere he got. He was an amazing tennis player, a charismatic leader, and so much more. He was sheer perfection embodied.

But Yukimura had worked towards it too; he just wasn't _born_ perfect (Although most would argue about that). He had grown up and recovered from a near-terminal disease. Stood up, and proved the entire world wrong.

Understanding him was near impossible, but that was okay. You didn't need to understand, to respect and like a person like him.

But as complex as Yukimura Seichii was, he was one of the easiest persons to get the along with, once you got over his perplexing nature. Given, that he found you equally interesting.

However, even super-humans had their own choices and preferences. And Yukimura _hated w_ith passion, school assemblies.

He was quite aware of what kind of school Rikkai was, something he had often found quite saddening actually. The blatant partiality the school showed towards laurel winners was quite disconcerting, but Yukimura wasn't one to question too much.

If winning is what school wanted, then he would provide that. After all, winning was his personal motto too.

* * *

"Seichii"

"Yes Renji?"

"There is an 87.82% chance that something important going to be announced now."

"Oh is there?" Yukimura asked amusedly.

"Yes and my statistics tell me, it's going to be something none of us are going to like."

That got Yukimura to pay attention- more attention that is. Yukimura _always _paid attention. He was the Child of God for heaven's sake!

He trusted Renji's data to the extreme. It had never failed them yet. (Expect those few matches against Seigaku back in middle-school. Rikkaidai tended to believe that had never happened.)

The Principal had come up onto the stage.

"Dear students. It has come to my attention that last year was not the best of years for Rikkai activities. The school management believes that the students hadn't performed to their level best. When we give you the opportunity to perform, we expect certain returns. Not substandard attempts. Considering-"

"Ahh, that's what it is." Yukimura relaxed. He'd expected that, and the satisfied gleam in Renji's eyes revealed that he, too, had been expecting that.

The previous year had _really _not been a good year for Rikkai. Although the Boys' Tennis team had swiped the floor clean of all their opponents- none of their middle school opponents had good teams that year- the other clubs had not performed as well.

Yukimura knew for fact that the nationally ranked Boys' Soccer team lost in the Nationals and the two-time champion Girls' Volleyball team didn't even make it to the semi-finals of the Nationals.

The Ballet and Traditional Music departments had won only five out of their seven competitions, something that hadn't happened in years. Even the Math Geeks had emerged only runner-ups in the annual Math Gizmo.

At least those lapses in performance were forgivable. The main reason Yukimura figured that the management was upset about, was the Girls' Tennis team shocking loss at Nationals. They had lost to a non-seeded new team, and didn't even make it to the quarters.

A loss of that magnitude did not go unheeded. The Captain had quit leaving the position to a Second year. Most of the regulars had quit as well. _That _was the impact and the shame of losing in Rikkai.

You just _didn't _lose. Something Yukimura had learnt the hard way at the end of middle-school.

"Due to certain shocking performances-" the Principal's eyes involuntarily glanced at the Girl's Tennis team seated before them, "-we have decided to bring forth certain c_hanges_ to the club administration."

"_What?" _

And that's when Yukimura heard the shout.

* * *

And boy was that shout loud. Kirihara stood up and began swearing like a sailor, resulting in a chain like reaction across the room.

Yukimura felt slightly insulted too.

The clubs of Rikkai had a long-standing tradition of students handling and taking care of them on their own. Rarely did any teacher ever interfere in the working of a club. Only if money was involved, or if the students required any advice, did teachers actually involve themselves. Even the coaching was done by the students themselves!

For years, since its inception, clubs were one of the few ways for students to express themselves. Given that there was no or very little adult supervision, the students were able to follow radical ideas, and discuss issues outside the barrier of tradition.

Clubs were literally the only things in which students were able to display and follow whatever they wanted. And in Rikkaidai especially, these clubs were of vital importance because of the _different _kinds of students around.

Sports clubs were able to follow the techniques they wanted, without coaches telling them what to do. Arts, Dance, Music and Drama clubs had the freedom of expression, to display what they believed in.

There were no rules when it came to clubs, except a few basic ones. It was the epitome of student freedom.

To have the school administration involve themselves in the running of the clubs left a bitter taste in Yukimura's mouth. Bringing changes into the Tennis Club was not a welcome idea. But Yukimura wanted to know _exactly _what these changes were.

"There are going to be certain guidelines implemented in each club. Students are asked to prepare comprehensive lists of exact activities the club follows and the regular participants of each team. Training manuals, lists of win and _losses-_" Here the Principal stopped and cleared his throat. "-and competitions that the school is going to participate in. Projects, recitals, artwork, résumés' all members, we-"

Yukimura frowned. Beside him Sanada was giving a lecture to Kirihara about his language, with Yagyuu chiming in here and there. The rest of the members weren't listening either, with Niou fiddling with his phone-something that school didn't allow- and Marui making funny faces behind Sanada's back at Kirihara. Jackal seemed to be in his own world.

Only Renji was listening, but he was scribbling into his notebook furiously.

Yukimura found the new guidelines rather odd. By creating such detailed documents teams, would be losing out on more training time, which wouldn't be beneficial to them. "There has to be something else." He could sense it, and Yukimura was _never _wrong.

""-to increase performance, and to ease the stress on the captains and teachers, we're making this compulsory. It's for your own good. It might seem rather shocking but you'll thank us for it later."

It's coming. Yukimura could feel it in his bones.

"Thus the Faculty and School Board have agreed to make it compulsory for all clubs to have Managers. This rule will prove quite profitable to you all."

There was silence for a minute, before the room burst into furious whispering. Yukimura looked to the side to see seven pairs of eyes looking at him (Who had all started listening the minute they heard the word 'Manager'.)

The silent question was asked from Sanada's eyes, "_What are we going to do?_"

Managers were avoided by the Tennis Club for years. Since the tennis regulars tended to be popular-an understatement- finding a good, non-fangirl manager was rare. Sometimes if required, the team would use a non-regular as a manager for official purposes. But for most part, Yanagi acted as the team manager.

Looking around the room, and seeing several hopeful looking faces shining in their direction, Yukimura could only sigh mentally.

"Managers huh? This is going to be quite an interesting year."

Yukimura smiled at the thought.

* * *

I know, not much drama here. This chapter was basically just to set the background for the story. There were actually many details in this chapter, that are going to be very important in the coming chapters ;)

READ & REVIEW? :D


	3. Of Mistakes and Pranks

_**Mishaps and Mayhem**_

**A/N: **My exams are over! :D Yayyyyyyyyy. Exams over= HOLIDAYS :D So expect a lot of updates. (Yes I started the story in the middle of my exams xD)

**YunaBrown**: The vibes you're getting are totally right. Thank you for reviewing!

**Mangy: **Thanks for reviewing! Will she? Will she not? Read on, and you'll find out ;) It's coming in this chapter. ^.^ I'm glad you like Amaya, and don't worry she'll meet the Regulars. :D

**XxBloodandButterfliesxX: **Yup, managers indeed. But don't worry it's not going to be the usual cliché story. There's drama in the horizon xD

Thanks for favourite-ing/ following everyone!

_New OC alert! _^_^

**Disclaimer- **I would love to own PoT, but sadly I don't.

* * *

**Chapter 3: **Of Mistakes and Pranks.

* * *

Kiyomi Miyazaki was having a _really _bad day.

It started of perfectly actually. She woke up without a head-ache, and with eight proper hours of sleep, something she hadn't had in weeks.

She hadn't overslept, the birds were chirping and her garden was alight in the warm and soft rays of the sun. Her hair wasn't knotted like it usually was, so she finished getting ready in half her usual time- only an hour- before going down for breakfast.

Back in the breakfast room- yes she had a room only for breakfast- she was greeted with traditional Japanese breakfast, which she adored. Her aunt wasn't up, so that was a bonus too.

She was genuinely bursting with happiness by the time she reached her car. "Nice way to start of the day" thought Kiyomi and she smiled contentedly as she watched the city come alive in the morning.

It was only after seeing another Rikkaidai student pass by on a bicycle, did Kiyomi realise exactly _where _she was going to.

She was going to Rikkaidai.

She was going to school, as the brand new captain of the disgraced Girls' Tennis team. She was going to lead a team that had lost in one of the most humiliating ways since the school's inception.

The thought process filled her entire head with gloom. She had spent week trying to forget about it, hoping it wasn't true. But the sheet with her name written near '_Captain_' finalised it.

Suddenly going to school didn't seem that great anymore.

* * *

Niou walked into class, with his usual air of apathy and nonchalance. Practice had been brutal, and the assembly just been a cherry on the cake.

But honestly, Niou didn't give a shit, about the new rule. Yeah they were going to have a manager, but who cares? Niou certainly didn't.

For years this "screw everything" policy had resulted in many things. Niou hoped it would just make people not bother him. The less people saw him, the more successful his pranks were.

But the whole thing actually had the opposite effect. The whole bad boy-esque thing just made the girls go even crazier around him. Which girl didn't dream of a rebel and bad-boy whisking her away into the sunset on his Harley Davidson?

Niou was the epitome of bad-boy after all. He had the next biggest fan-club after Yukimura. But Niou had rejected most girls, except a few. Rejected quite brutally actually.

He had no qualms in insulting a girl publically. He wasn't a gentleman, and certainly wasn't a kind person.

Niou wasn't a secret softie or a _tsundere _like the girls thought he was. He wouldn't jump into a river to save a puppy, or stop and chase a robber who stole an old lady's purse.

He wasn't the good guy. If you were hanging for your life from a cliff, he would probably leave you die, if he didn't have an obligation to save you.

He had broken the hearts of so many girls, and didn't show a hint of remorse about it. Even the girls he _had _dated, the relationships hadn't last long.

But Niou didn't care; he just wasn't that kind of guy.

When he walked into class, on the first day of school, he was slightly disappointed with his new classmates. The only people in the room, whom he considered as friends were Yanagi and Jackal. Both of whom he wasn't too close with.

Yanagi had played spoilsport with many of his pranks ("Stupid geniuses") and Jackal was far too responsible. He did care for them, slightly, the dark twisted place called his heart, but they weren't his _best friends _like maybe Hiroshi was.

He glanced around to see many girls looking at him. He smirked at one or two of them, but nothing too serious. Niou would rather die than have himself chained up in a relationship with a girl.

Suddenly right at the doorway, he heard someone fall down with a crash. "Ahh the trip-wire" thought Niou appreciatively. Almost everyone in school knew that, while walking into a class where Niou studied, one must always jump, or take a wide step near the doorway. Even the teachers knew that!

"The girl's new" thought Niou as he saw her pick herself up.

The entire class was laughing. The girls giggled and the boys smirked and laughed at her. Niou half expected her to start crying, since it was her first day in school and all.

However, surprisingly the girl just smiled slightly, knocked her head with her knuckle and muttered; "Silly Amaya." She then picked up her fallen books and just kept walking on.

She wasn't blushing and didn't even look embarrassed. Instead she had this lost, dreamy look on her face, like she didn't even realise that she had just made a fool out of herself in front of an entire class.

She was short, maybe not the shortest in class, but nonetheless pretty tiny for her age. She would reach probably his shoulders. Her hair was pitch black in colour and wasn't too long. Her ponytail just reached the base of her neck. Her hair was thick, thicker than an average Japanese's. Niou could tell, because he often bought wigs, and none of them had as thick hair as hers. Everything else was probably average, except her eyes to an extent. It was bluish-green in colour, and continually changing shades. They weren't piercing or warm, or things like that. They were the eyes of a dreamer, and Niou could tell 'cause her entire body exhibited that. An almost lost-in-her-own-world sort of ness.

Amaya, Niou figured that was her name, plopped herself in the seat in front of him, near the window. Unaware of the stares she was getting; she removed a book out of her bag- in _English_- and began reading.

"She doesn't care. She honestly doesn't" thought Niou as she disregarded the people laughing at her. "Either she's faking it just so that people will stop laughing, or she's one of those rare people who just don't give a shit of what people think of her" Niou determined.

It was kind of refreshing to Niou. All these years, all girls had done was drool over him, cry when he rejected them, and drool over him again.

The girls, who _didn't_ do that, drooled over someone else. And every single girl had issues, and each issue they thought the whole world must know about, and created drama and ruckus wherever they went because of it.

And the teachers call boys the trouble-makers.

He looked at her one more time, and considered telling her that he was the reason she tripped. He always got into trouble because of his pranks.

The reason was that he didn't hide the fact that he was responsible. He always took credit for his pranks. That's what made him different from the other trouble-makers in school; he didn't try to feign innocence.

Niou would admit to a prank as soon as he finished it. He liked the feeling he got from hundreds of students looking at him in awe, at the sheer _brilliance_ behind it.

Niou decided to tell her. He casually tapped her head with his knuckle and waited. She didn't even turn around. He frowned slightly, and knocked again.

This time she turned around. If Niou had expected an angry face, then he was sorely mistaken. Instead she had a muddled look on her face, and when she saw Niou, she blinked. She blinked again, and then stared with a look of utter loss.

"Did you hit me on the head?" she asked him with her head tilted to her head, in confusion.

"Yes I did" Niou said, with a smirk on his face.

"May I know why?" She was _definitely _confused now.

"Don't you want to know why you tripped?"

"Not really, I'm pretty used to it anyway. I have two left feet" She laughed at this, uncaring of the fact that she was insulting herself. "Well that's new" thought Niou. "A girl making fun of herself to a complete stranger."

"I tripped you."

Her eyes widened for a second, but then she giggled again.

"Nah, you couldn't have. You were all the way here, and I would have noticed if good-looking guy like you was near me-"

She paused for a second, as if evaluating her choice of words. Niou looked at her again with slight surprise.

He was used to people calling him good-looking, but no girl had actually said it to him face on. Plus the way she said it was different too. She didn't say it flirtatiously, but just like an observation she had made. She said it like one would say the colour of a rose is red. A fact- nothing too important.

"-plus I'm not _that _blind-"

"A trip-wire" Niou interrupted her. "A trip-wire that _I _set."

Niou waited for a reaction. Maybe a full out shout? Maybe some tears? For years, Niou's pranks had always got him the desired reactions. The trip-wire was sort of a test, to make out what sort of person you actually were. They say, you always reveal who you _truly _are when you're angry.

Niou wanted to know what sort of girl Amaya was. Was she faking the nonchalance, was she the angry type, or would she just blush and look away? She hadn't reacted when she fell, but Niou was sure as hell, she would react now.

But she didn't. Her lips formed an O and her eyes widened. A few seconds she broke out into a laugh again, and said, "So you pranked me eh? Damn, I didn't expect that." Laughing, she turned around and went back to reading her book.

_"WHAT?"_

Niou stared at her with slight disappointment and slight bewilderment. He did not expect that at all. Never had anyone, in all his years of pranking, just ignored it. Never had anyone been so _calm _about it either.

"She's one weird girl that one" thought Niou as he burned a hole into her back-figuratively. _Especially_ since, she went back to a book.

Niou decided that she was faking it, 'because _no one_ could be so indifferent to his pranks.

"I'll figure it out _Amaya, _just wait and watch."

* * *

Back outside near the gates of school, a girl gracefully steps out of a car. Her uniform is perfectly tidy, and her hair and make-up is immaculate. Her entire being emanates _perfection. _Not the haughty sort of perfection, but an angelic perfection.

She smiles at everyone and nods her head at a few she knew. A few guys whistle appreciatively, but she just ignores them.

Then as gracefully as a swan, with a slight sway of her hip she begins to walk towards the school building. The girl's name is Kiyomi, or popularly known as _Miss Perfection._

She was beautiful; anyone with eyes could see that- but not in a sexy way, but in a cheesy, fallen from heaven sort of way.

But she was beautiful not only in the exterior but in the interior too. She was the kindest person you could ever meet, always willing to talk to you, even if you were a loser or not popular.

She was smart, good at a sport, a student council member and just _perfect. _She was like a frickin' Mary Sue! Every girl in Rikkai was jealous of her at some point of time in their school career.

But the thing was no one could hate Kiyomi; they just couldn't. She was just was way too nice. So they settled on worshipping her. Everyone knew and loved Kiyomi; it just was a well-known fact.

The only down-side one could think of when they thought of Kiyomi was that she didn't have many close friends. The closest were her teammates, but they didn't know her very well either. She didn't have a best friend, nor a boyfriend, and generally never went on dates either.

It was strange, but no-one questioned her. She was just too nice, to accuse of.

* * *

Kiyomi held her head high, and walked towards school. The students hadn't changed, and many looked at her with expressions akin to adoration. "They still like me" noticed Kiyomi half amused, half relieved.

She was scared that since she was the new captain, people would hate her. But luckily she had been mistaken.

Kiyomi let out a sigh of relief and she relaxed, greeting people as she walked towards the auditorium.

She adored Rikkai, with all her heart. Despite the intense standards the school expected, she loved it. She had studied in Rikkai all her life, and never once had she hated it.

The school authorities never pried into her personal life, like other schools did. They never asked for parents' opinions and didn't make parent-teacher meetings compulsory, and Kiyomi was glad for that.

Despite loads of people wanting to be friends, or _more _than friends, Kiyomi didn't want to get too close to anyone.

Sure she was nice to everyone; but she just didn't let many people get in. She could count the number of people she considered friends in one hand. "Wow that's embarrassing" Kiyomi thought sheepishly as she entered the auditorium.

Contrary to what school assumed Kiyomi wasn't a social butterfly, nor was she perfect.

She was just _Kiyomi Miyazaki. _Who had more than enough problems to deal with.

* * *

"Wow that was an interesting assembly" thought Kiyomi as she moved with the crowd to her class.

The Principal had made obvious references toward the humiliating loss of the Girls' Tennis team. It was the first trial Kiyomi faced that day; holding her head high, when she received accusing stares from all across the room for the new rule.

Kiyomi wasn't worried about the rule, they had a manager already. What she couldn't handle was the fact that now the entire school hated the Girls' Tennis team.

She could manage looks of pity or sympathy for her new position, what she didn't know what to make of stares of anger and hatred. She had never had enemies her entire life. This situation made her feel uncomfortable.

But she was _Kiyomi, _she could handle it.

* * *

Amaya's day was pretty uneventful. After she tripped in the morning, and the weird silver-haired boy told her he was responsible; the rest of the day was monotonous.

When she had tripped in the morning, she assumed it was due to her own clumsiness. After she found out it was because of that boy, she felt nothing more than amusement at her own obliviousness. At least she knew now to avoid getting tpo close to _Silver Boy. _(She does not know his name)

Amaya did, in fact, not notice at all that her classmates were laughing at her. She did not feel the slightest bit embarrassed, because she was just that _dense_. Nothing ever got into her head, if she didn't take active effort to understand or notice it.

That's why she could barely remember any details of the day. She remembered standing in front of the class and introducing herself. In English. Unconsciously of course; she hadn't come back to Earth at that point of time. Only after seeing the blank faces of her classmates, did she realise her mistake and correct it. At least she remembered to put her family-name first. She even said '_Yoroshiku_' which was an added bonus.

They hadn't had real classes so Amaya didn't meet her Japanese tutor. She got to know a girl who was seated next to her to an extent which meant she had _someone _to talk to, besides Silver Boy, who occasionally spoke to her throughout the day. He more or less spoke to her, just to tease her about her horrible Japanese writing. She ignored him most of the times because she felt that he was mean.

She met several of her teachers, who were really nice and immediately understood her problems with _kanji_ and assured her that she would learn. She liked people assuring stuff; it made her calm down her hyper-active mind for sometime.

Another distinct thing she remembered from class was that joining a club in Rikkaidai was compulsory. So there she stood in front of a huge board that listed every club in Rikkai, along with its form.

She just had to sign her name under the clubs she wanted to join, and their representatives would contact her with the details. She had to join three clubs- one daily, a weekly, and a monthly club.

Looking at the list, Amaya had no idea of what to do.

Initially she thought of joining the book club, until she realised the members read big fat _Japanese _books, many of which she couldn't understand a word of. Same went for the debate and public speaking; she didn't have the language skills required.

If it were English, then she would be bloody brilliant, but this was Japanese and so she sucked.

The next was the cooking club. Amaya considered herself as an excellent cook, but the problem was that she was _vegetarian_.

Her parents had become vegetarians when they used to travel across the world. They'd seen some pretty bad cases of animal abuse that caused them shift to it in a Buddhist Ashram in India.

Amaya was born vegetarian, and she had no reason to change now. She could make mean vegetarian pastas and other dishes, but nothing that involved meat. So cooking club was out of the list.

The next came the Arts section of Rikkai. Amaya almost burst into crazy laughter when she read it. Arts and Amaya Izumi _never _got along. They shared a long lasting rivalry.

Amaya couldn't draw _or _sing _or _dance to save her life.

She had two left feet and absolutely no grace when it came to dance; the first time she tried it she got so muddled up, she fell face first into the ground. It was the 'Chicken Dance'.

When her Mom tried to teach her to sing, she successfully almost scared the household cat into insanity. Her Dad ran in and asked them where the frog was.

Her dismal art trumped both of these. Amaya remembered her first drawing.

Her dad had just read out to her a book, where a man was stabbed in the back by his best-friend and his ghost haunted his murderer till he fell off a cliff and died. Perhaps not a suitable book to read to a three-year old, but Amaya's dad was slightly eccentric. (Plus, that wasn't the actual story. In the actual story her dad read, the people were actually flowers. But Amaya was a smart three-year old. She knew who the flowers symbolised)

Her mother, not knowing the story, asked her to depict a scene on a piece of paper.

Amaya took a black colour pencil and sketched, in the true fashion of a three year old, a stick figure of a man. She then drew blood everywhere with a red pencil, used pink to draw the ghost -three year old Amaya _hated_ pink- with vampire teeth and finally finished it off with writing _'DIE' _in blue.

Her mother was horrified; but a slightly bit pleased with the fact that Amaya could write in 'Die' in English, but mostly horrified. After a few more attempts, Amaya's mother decided that art just wasn't her forte, and introduced her to books, which she fell in love with.

Later Amaya found out, the book her dad read was not about murder at all. It was about a flower withering away and its spirit watching over its best friend, until it finally blew over a cliff. No wonder her mom was horrified.

So the entire section of Arts was out of question. Even the instruments w had their own funny anecdotes, but Amaya didn't want to remember them. They were very embarrassing.

She glanced at the Sports section. She didn't play any of the sports listed, so she couldn't join any of them. The sports she played were Extreme Sports like mountain-climbing, white-water rafting, scuba diving, that sort of thing.

She only participated in sports that got her heart racing and adrenaline pumping. She craved adventure and mystery. She loved the feeling of near-death you got from them. Yes she was slightly a masochist, but it was okay. She felt _alive. _

The irony of having the most laid-back girl you'll find ever, loving dangerous, bordering on insane sports. But Amaya was a walking contradiction anyway, so it didn't matter.

After the sports section, came the academics section. She signed her name under the History club, her dad expected that. Plus she adored History and was sorta a freak when it came to it. Her dad was a History and Linguistics professor, so she grew up learning History.

She also signed her name under another club, when she saw the final section.

_Managers. _

Amaya kind of remembered an announcement about managers, but not very clearly. She still needed to join one more club, so she looked at the list in front of her. Most of them were empty, except for the Soccer Club which had a few names.

Amaya decided to sign her name randomly in some form. It didn't make a difference anyway right? So caught up in her thoughts Amaya signed her name in a random club in English accidentally. Not that she noticed.

Satisfied with her work, she grabbed her bag, and walked of. She didn't even notice what club she signed her name under.

_**Managers for the Boys' Tennis Team:**_

_Amaya Izumi, 2B_

* * *

Yayyyyy drama finally :D

How do you guys like Amaya and Kiyomi? Tell me in the Reviews! I reallyyyy want to know of what you think of them, and how to improve on them :)

READ AND REVIEW PLEASE?


	4. Darling, Stop Being a Bitch

**Mishaps and Mayhem**

**A/N:** I'M SO SORRY. Vacation, New Year yada yada yada; I'll post more often now.

So what did you guys do for New Year? Me? I did absolutely nothing but read fanfictions xD

**uriel's tea: **I'm so glad you like Amaya! :D Thanks for the review :')

**adgenelia: **Yes Amaya is extremely insane; the Regulars _are_ in trouble XD Thanks for reviewing!

**Mangy: **Everyone seems to love Amaya! :D Thank you for reviewing again :)

One thing everyone reviewed about was Kiyomi's character. Yes she seems like a Mary-sue, I wanted her to be like that XD. But worry not; there are _many_ different sides to her ;)

Once again, _new OC alert _^_^

PS: You'll probably hate this OC, I hope you do. That's what I'm aiming for xD

**Disclaimer: **If I owned PoT, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction would I?

* * *

Chapter 3: Darling, Stop Being a Bitch

* * *

"Who in the world is _Anaga Tyumi_?!" Sayuri Hoshino exclaimed in horror. Her perfectly manicured hand - completed with blood red nail-polish -moved to cover her mouth in a dramatic fashion.

She stood in front of the club activities board, with one hand on her hip. Her skirt was several inches above the school regulations and she stood on six-inch high heels- again defying school rules.

Her hair was perfectly styled and left loose as it cascaded down her back, straightened and curled in the ends. Her face was covered in make-up- flawlessly done, with her lips covered in bright red lipstick to match her nails.

The only thing that marred her looks was the haughty and arrogant way with which she carried herself. While Kiyomi Miyazaki was known for her beauty as well, Sayuri Hoshino was known better as the school _bitch_.

As the head of the School Board's daughter, Sayuri had the entire school under her pretty little feet. Insult Sayuri? Well goodbye; you're kicked out of school.

She was pretty- and sadly she knew that. She spent most of her life doing three things-

A) Making sure she looked perfect- at any time of the day (Even at 3 a.m.)

B) Spending Daddy's money.

C) Insulting every other girl or boy (who wasn't hot) in school.

Thus, she was called- not to her face of course- the 'Mighty One' (sarcasm at its finest) or M.O for short. She was also called 'Sexy Bitch' by some of the more, well, ungentlemanly boys, but that was generally ignored, because boys like them must be avoided at all costs.

So M.O stood there with an utterly –fake- shocked look on her face, and turned to a girl who stood next to her.

"I _said _who is Anaga Tyumi?"

M.O didn't have many friends because of her attitude problem, but she did have her own bunch of followers. Girls who didn't want to get into Sayuri's bad list. So they followed her like Little Bo Peep's sheep. (Although one would wonder when the sheep would finally come to sense and stop following her).

The poor girl who stood next to M.O was startled by her outburst.

"Ummm I'm not sure Hoshino-san."

"What do you mean you _don't _know?

"I'm sorry Hoshino-san. I don't know anyone called Anaga Tyumi."

"Hmph. Figure it out before I tell everyone about your little deal with that Fujikowa boy. Pretty embarrassing right?" Sayuri looked, no glared at the girl, as the poor thing trembled slightly before turning and running away. Sayuri had that effect on practically anyone she spoke to.

She felt slight pinch remorse, but it disappeared as soon as it arrived.

"Pathetic."

With her nose up in the air, M.O turned her face back to the list. There it was clearly written in ink.

**Managers for the Boys' Tennis Team:-**

_Amaya Izumi _

One could immediately notice that _darling _M.O was _pathetic _at English. Being the daughter of the Chairman, didn't make her any smart at all.

Everyone knew Sayuri had been aiming to involve herself with the Tennis Team for _ages. _She had made a –very public- promise to date Sanada Genichirou before the end of High School.

Yes _Sanada Genichirou_, the stoic vice-captain of Rikkai, the traditionalistic Kendo player; the Emperor.

According to Sayuri, her amazing, wonderful, brilliant, beautiful, lady-like, refined and so on looks and attitude- her exact words- and his chiselled body, traditional up-bringing, intelligence etc. would make them the greatest couple the world would ever see.

She claimed she was the Juliet to his Romeo, and they would fall in deeply love, and get married as soon as they left college in a fairy tale wedding. (Cue laughter from the entire school)

However the man in question, kept a far distance from her. He was called 'The Rock' for a reason. Ever since school began, he resisted, ignored, and often outright rejected any attempts Sayuri made at making him fall in love with her.

(Including moving to the side when Sayuri attempted the 'trust fall' and then refusing to take her to the infirmary personally as well; he _knew _the curse of school infirmaries)

The whole story was the butt of many a joke in Rikkai, with girls either laughing at Sayuri's attempts, or sobbing because they would have to later hear her moan about him ignoring her 'because he was shy and scared of the obvious chemistry and sparks between them'.

Sanada was not shy, nor were there sparks between them. Period. He _hated _her with passion. (Maybe the she mistook the smoke coming out of his ears as sparks of love)

But one had to give credit to Sayuri's resilience. If anyone could resist Sanada's death glare, and still come back for more, then they were made up of some pretty hard stuff.

When the Principal made the announcement for each club to have a manager, Sayuri was overjoyed. There was finally chance to get close to her beloved.

M.O had made it very clear to _everyone _that only _she _could apply for the post. Anyone who didn't listen to her would have their social lives destroyed in a matter of seconds.

Sayuri had ears everywhere. She knew every last dirty secret one had. She used secrets to blackmail others for more secrets. And those secrets to blackmail for others.

So that was the reason the form for the Boys' Tennis Club was so empty. Only Sayuri had the right to fill it in.

But someone had already beaten her to it. Someone she didn't even know. _Anaga Tyumi. (_She still didn't realise she had got the name wrong. No one else realised it either. Perhaps it was because of the fact that no one else could even _see _the form; Sayuri hid it with extreme care in case the other girls had some ideas)

"Doesn't _anyone _know who this….who this _person _is?"

A small crowd had gathered around her, and were looking at her pensively. When M.O got angry, girls cried as their secrets were let out, boys had their social lives ruined, and teachers had to deal with shit loads of drama.

No kidding.

Finally a girl decided it was time. "Ummmm Hoshino-san, perhaps it isn't a name?" (This was just a random attempt at pacifying her)

"Not a name?" Sayuri raised her eyebrows at that.

"There isn't anyone called Anaga Tyumi, we checked."

Sayuri stared at the paper for a few minutes before smiling. "Ahh that must be it. Sanada-kun is so smart."

She smiled dreamily at the girl.

The girl exchanged an incredulous look with one of her friends.

"Hoshino-san how is Sanada-san involved?"

"It's so obvious, stupid. It's a message in another language. So sweet. Maybe French? Maybe Italian? Aw _what_ a flirt." A sigh. A giggle. And a sigh again.

"He must be wishing me luck!" Sayuri beamed at the crowd, and quickly removed a pen from her bag. The students around her exchanged glances, sarcastic eyebrows were raised, while some of the more thick-headed girls sighed in jealousy.

Sayuri raised the pen and signed her name on the list with flourish, covering the entire page, effectively preventing anyone else from joining.

"There. How perfect," she said to herself, and then turned to face the crowd of girls near her.

Her face grew serious.

"Now, listen up. Not _one _of you can sign this form. _Got it_?" _"Or be prepared for the consequences," _that went unspoken.

She lifted her bag onto her shoulders and with a flick of her hair, she turned and walked away.

With the light shining on her from the windows, and the way she walked, the scene was so cliché that some students gagged at it.

"What a Bitch."

"Tell me about it."

* * *

The Tennis team regulars anxiously waited in the Boys' locker room. Yanagi had gone to retrieve the Managers Form- or what's left of it- from the school notice board.

The tension was so thick it could have been cut with a knife. Each regular dealt with the stress in their own way.

While Sanada and Yagyuu remained motionless staring into space (stressing out internally because they had reputations to uphold), Kirihara and Marui were pacing back and forth the room -they were actually having a walking race because _that was so important._

Jackal was reading a book and Niou was in a corner- probably thinking of a prank. Yukimura was the only one who seemed relatively unaffected. But he was _Yukimura_, obviously this wouldn't affect him.

They dreaded it. They dreaded the moment when Yanagi would walk into the room. They dreaded the moment when Yanagi would walk into the room carrying a list which would be crammed with the names of some of their _crazy- _bordering on psychedelic- fangirls.

Yes they knew they had fangirls. Yes they knew they were popular. And no they did not seem to see any reason at being modest about it.

There wouldn't be more than twenty names they assumed because the list could not hold any more. But one could not underestimate the power of teenage girl.

But if there were _only _twenty names, then it spelled even more trouble for the Regulars. Because it would be twenty of the most obsessed and more importantly most _powerful _fangirls in school. Heads of various fan-clubs, strong, vicious, and ready to do _anything _to get what they wanted.

And in this case, what they wanted were the Tennis Regulars.

It felt like war.

"This is ridiculous! We are _men. _Strong, smart, manly _men_. Why should we be scared of a bunch of girls? We must not bow down to the will of the female gender!"

Marui proclaimed this and promptly almost fell off the bench he was standing on when he waved his hands for effect.

"Marui-san, that was very chauvinistic. Gentlemen should not be chauvinistic. Isn't that so Sanada-san?"

"Hn"

"Please Hiroshi, Sanada is on the verge of declaring war and charging toward the Principal himself. You know how he hates wasting practice time," said Niou dryly.

"At least we're spared the slaps and the laps," muttered Kirihara under his breath.

"That rhymed!" exclaimed Marui in obvious delight. "Isn't it divine when things rhyme?" (His thought of manliness long forgotten)

"Shut up fatty."

"_I AM NOT FAT."_

"Oh yes you are."

"_Why you little-"_

**_-A few fist-fights and several 'Tarundoru's later-_**

_(Yukimura ignored them, that's why it went on for so long)_

"I'm back."

Two words and the whole room fell silent.

Yanagi stood at the doorway, slightly amused at the sight of Marui holding Niou by the collar, Kirihara cheering by the side, Jackal _sighing _by the side and Yagyuu desperately trying to make them stop with his talking. Yukimura was just observing them all with a serene look on his face.

If looks could kill, all of them would have died that very moment because of Sanada.

"_Ahh looks like I came just in time."_

Yanagi cleared his throat. "I have spoken to the Principal."

"And?" urged Marui.

"Well just as my data stated, there is no way we can bend this rule, or loopholes we can use. The requirements are clear."

He lifted up a sheet.

_"All clubs must have a manager, male or female, who must not belong to the same club i.e. must not participate in competitions representing it. The student enlisted as the manager should have joined the club by his/her own will, and not have it forced on them._"

A beat.

"So basically we have to have a manager and we can only choose one from the applicants?" asked Kirihara.

"That is correct."

"Well shit."

"_Language, _Kirihara-kun!"

Jackal hurriedly interrupted before another fight broke out. "What are the names Yanagi?"

Silence.

Seven pairs of eyes bored holes at him.

Yanagi looked at Sanada with a look akin to pity, and pulled out the list from his bag.

"_My data has proved correct once again. But on the hindsight, maybe I should have warned Sanada first."_

Yanagi shrugged casually at the thought, and cleared his throat. The Regulars leaned forward.

"There were-"

"Only twenty names right?" interrupted Kirihara. Marui hit on the head and told him to shut up.

Yanagi sighed, and looked at the paper again.

"There were exactly two names."

Hell broke loose.

"ONLY TWO?"

"This is some miracle, I knew praying was the right option."

"You _pray_?"

"_Senpaiiiiii!"_

_"Hn"_

"Ahh, this is not what I expected."

"_Wait."_

Everyone fell silent; the captain had spoken. Yukimura smiled slightly and said, "Renji, who exactly are the two people?"

Silence again.

"_Ahh the difficult part has arrived."_

"Well, the people are, the new girl in my class, Izumi Amaya, and-"

Yanagi paused.

"And Senpai?" Kirihara prompted.

"-and Hoshino Sayuri."

Sanada paled.

* * *

You know how people say you make major life decisions among family and friends, or after bitter experiences? Wrong. Or at least that's what Amaya decided.

You make major life decisions when you're in the shower or when you get kicked out of math class and spend an hour alone in the corridor.

Second days are supposed to be as boring as first days. Amaya liked boring. She liked only her life being boring that is. If others' lives were dramatic, then she absolutely _loved _it.

But sadly that was not how her day was so far.

She had learnt exactly _seven _things so far in the day-

A) Silver Head was _mean_.

B) Fangirls were scary

C) Silver Head had fangirls and hence was popular.

D) Silver head was popular _because _he was in the Tennis team, so therefore the Tennis Team was very popular (_surprise surprise; she guessed that on the first day)_

E) Since the Tennis Team was so popular, they had to be avoided on all costs.

F) Silver Head deserves to die.

G) She was utterly, god-forsakenly screwed.

Why might you ask?

Well, it started in Japanese class.

When the teacher arrived, introduced herself, and began teaching the lesson, Amaya was pretty confident that she would understand it. Hell, maybe she would get out of the tutoring business as well.

She did understand it. She understood the teacher's introduction to the chapter. She understood the gist of the story. She understood the Japanese the teacher spoke with.

And then she opened the text book.

Well let's say all her confidence just flew out of the window.

It looked like Greek and Latin to her! Hell it looked like _Japanese _to her. (From this it should be clear that Amaya _sucked _at Japanese. She had always sucked at Japanese)

She _had _learnt to read and write Japanese before, but she let it go in favour of learning French from her dad. She learnt to speak fancy Japanese but not _read it_!

"_Oh well look who's screwed._"

Silver head made it no easier bear the shame. He teased her mercilessly, often making references to her horrendous attempts at _kanji_.

He kept saying that even 'Bakaya' was better. Amaya did not know who this 'Bakaya' was, but decided she didn't like him very much. Whoever he was, he was obviously not very smart, and to know that she was stupider then a stupid person was upsetting.

_Silver head was mean. (Behold lesson one)_

She knew his name, _Niou_, but felt Silver Head suited him better. Niou in turn called her Amaaayaa, stretching the syllables in her name in that drawl of his.

He didn't even add the 'san' or the 'chan' which made her upset. She always thought 'Amaya' was too plain, and 'Amaya-chan' sounded much better.

"_Stupid Silver Head," _thought Amaya darkly. After all it was his fault she was making life decisions now.

After she had the epiphany that she was never going to get through the year without a tutor, and how the school was _so_ right about that etc. etc. Amaya began looking around the class to see _exactly _who would be her tutor.

After carefully analysing all her classmates, she came to a conclusion that there were four people who could be her future torturer- sorry tutor. Isn't it funny how the word 'tutor' can be found in 'torturer'? _Not._

Honestly teachers should realise this.

The four people were- Ichikawa Sachi the extremely nerdy boy in the front bench, Tadeshi Koto the smart-ass girl class representative, Sekigawa Akeno the stuttering, socially inept but extremely smart boy and Yanagi Renji, the genius whom every teacher adored. (She had doubts whether he was human. Honestly he recited an entire poem by-heart. She couldn't even _read _the poem aloud.)

Sekigawa Akeno was out of the list as soon as he got onto to it. The poor boy would probably faint due to anxiety if he knew he had to tutor someone.

Tadeshi Koto was a strong candidate, but she was out because of the very same reason. She was _strong_, as in punch-you-in-the-face-if-you're-wrong sort of strong.

Tadeshi-san was in the karate club. And Amaya most definitely did not want a tutor who was short-tempered, condescending and who could knock her out in a single blow, if she were wrong. She was pretty sure Tadeshi was also far too busy to tutor her (_Hopefully_)

Yanagi Renji was _far _too good for her; he was the class representative, a Tennis Team Regular and the class topper.

He and his genius were at a level way higher than what she was in. To have him tutor her would be horrifying because, a) she was _bad _at Japanese, b) she would make a fool out of herself, c) she could not handle a tutor who could probably read out facts about her personality from a book he kept, which was extremely stalkerish and crazy, and she knew this because he did to a _teacher,_ d) if he knew personal stuff about a teacher, then God knows what he would know about her and, e) she needed a tutor who would motivate her to study and not scare her with his stalking skills.

Combining all these facts, she decided under no conditions would she _ever _study under the tutelage of one Yanagi Renji.

"_What is wrong with these Tennis Regulars?_"

The last person on the list was Ichikawa Sachi. Just looking at him made Amaya shudder and want to die.

He was the epitome of what a stereotypical nerd looked like. Big thick-lensed glasses, rabbit teeth sticking out of his mouth, extremely sticky looking hair combed perfectly and split in the middle, trousers several inches short showing of his _E=mc2 _socks and a big fat bag of books.

But it wasn't the looks that bothered Amaya, it was how he behaved and sat.

He was a first bencher, with a certain pair of wandering eyes. Amaya swore she saw him _drool _when one of her prettier classmates passed by.

To be tutored by him? It would be a horrifying experience.

Amaya wasn't gorgeous by any means, and she wasn't vain to think that he would look at her like that.

She didn't even know if what she saw was true!

Amaya preferred reserving judgements about people as much as she could; she tried to see the best in everyone. But often that had led to many, many different experiences and results.

There was a reason she was apathetic to things that happened in her life; apathetic and stuck in her own world. Because often the view from above is far better than the view from below. Bad things happen when she faces reality.

_"Maybe he's a really nice guy!"_

Despite all her optimism, Amaya did _not _want to get stuck with Ichikawa Sachi. But since there was no one else on the list left, she resigned to fact that he would, in fact be her tutor.

"_At least I would learn proper Japanese!_"

The thought didn't make her feel any better.

* * *

After this depressing line of thoughts occupied her mind, the rest of Japanese class flew by, and it was time for math.

However just before Math class, there was a break for a few minutes. Amaya rested her head on her desk and eavesdropped on the conversations around her.

That's when she learnt lessons two, three, four, five _and _six.

She felt something hit her head, and she turned around to see Silver Head smirking at her.

"_What _do you want Silver?"

Niou's grin widened.

"Well _Amaayaa, _I want _you _to give me some water."

That puzzled her.

"Umm why?"

"Because I _want _water, but I don't _have _water, so therefore give me _your _water."

Amaya sighed.

"You're an idiot you know?"

She reached for her water-bottle, and when she straightened and turned around, Amaya experienced her first ever meeting with a fangirl.

Three girls- who she swore had not even been in the room three seconds ago- were suddenly standing near Niou's desk.

Each of them held two water bottles- one their own, and the other being some fancy packaged mineral water- which they promptly shoved in front of Niou. (_Behold lesson number two, three, four and five)_

"Niou-san, take _my _water bottle."

"No mine."

"No _mine._"

However-to Amaya's everlasting surprise- Silver Head ignored them all and grabbed the bottle in her hand instead.

He then finished all the water.

"_Why you little piece of-"_

Amaya's thought were interrupted by a squeal.

She twitched at the interruption, and therefore got lost in _another _trail of thought.

"Niou-san, why'd you drink _her _water?"

The three assembled fangirls were shooting laser beams of hatred toward oblivious Amaya (who was dreaming about water bottles and the how water tastes different in different places; _what?_)

"Because I wanted to."

"Niou-san"-_sobs_-"Ni-Niou-san, do you _like _her?"

Fangirls _always _shot things out of proportion.

One of the fangirls looked at him with utmost horror, with tears- _why the hell was she crying_- falling, ruining her makeup.

"How _could _you do that?" This time the fangirl addressed Amaya, who shot out of dream land, at the accusatory tone the girl used.

"Do what?" she asked confused.

"Oh you know _exactly _what I'm talking about you little witch."

"No actually I do not. But how did you know I was a witch? _DID THE WAND GIVE IT AWAY?"_

Amaya thought the fangirl was making a Harry Potter reference.

The fangirl growled-literally. (Luckily she had stopped crying)

Like a lion stalking its prey, she turned to Niou again- the other two girls had disappeared; they had lost the battle to have the privilege talk to Niou- and asked in a scarily sweet tone,

"Niou-san, are you dating Izumi-san?"

"_Wow that's out of the blue," _Amaya thought, not exactly comprehending what she just heard.

Silence.

Niou's eyes gleamed.

And then-

"What if I am?"

"_Wait WHAT?"_

The girl took in a horrified breath, bowed hastily and ran like the wind.

If Amaya had been paying attention, she might have noticed the-fake- sob the girl let out, or heard her screaming on top of her voice about how Niou-san was dating the ugly new student, resulting in brand new hot gossip; but she wasn't.

Her brain had stopped functioning when she heard the words 'date' followed by 'Niou'.

By the time she processed the information and got ready to give Niou a piece of her mind, the math teacher had entered the class. However Amaya did not give a shit about this fact.

Amaya was usually apathetic to _everything_. Unless something is utterly _fascinating _or related to a book, she never gave a shit.

But dating was something completely different. Dating was new, and frankly to have someone tell someone else that they were dating you without getting your permission first was _insulting._

Amaya didn't care that Niou claimed they were dating. Amaya cared that Niou claimed they were dating, without _telling_ her that he was going to tell everyone that they were dating.

Hell dating wasn't the problem, surprising her with it was.

She knew he said it because he wanted to get the girl to leave (_wrong_), but he could have _asked _her first. Lies need details, especially when it comes to fake-dating.

(As you can see Amaya's complete lack of proper socialising with people her own age had resulted in her having no idea of what rumours were spreading at the moment and how many enemies she had just made)

And so she stood up on her bench in the middle of math class with thirty odd students watching along with a teacher, and began screaming her head off at Niou. In every language she knew. (Except Japanese because she didn't want anyone to understand)

"_Connard!"*_

"_C'est des connenes!"_

"_T'es vraiment trop con!"_

Niou just smirked.

The next thing she knew, she was kicked out of class, and making major life decisions.

But obviously life had more in store for her.

After the lengthy scolding on behaviour and how she should not climb benches etc. (luckily the teacher did not understand French) she received from the teacher-who heard the entire speech- she was given a slip and asked to leave the class.

On her way out Niou- '_connard'- _slipped something into her bag. He then had the audacity to _wink_ at her.

_WINK._

Amaya quickly rummaged through her bag the minute she got out of class, and glared at the piece of paper she found.

_Dear Amaayaa,_

_As my new fake girlfriend, you have certain demands to fulfill. You will answer to my every beck and call. You cannot back out because you will need my protection against the lovely ladies who adore me. _

_Do not try to scream at me again like that, it is very unladylike. _

_Plus, you should be honoured to be my fake girlfriend; girls would die to be you._

_I shall see you soon._

_~Niou-the-greatest-person-you-shall-ever-see-Masaharu._

_PS. I was informed to tell you that you are the brand new manager of the Rikkaidai Boys' Tennis team. My heartiest congratulations. You are expected to attend tomorrow's morning practice which begins sharply at 6:00 am. You cannot back out once again._

_PPS. Bring two water bottles tomorrow._

_(Behold lesson six)_

After the entire mishap she termed 'The Math Class' (her imagination kind of sucked at the moment because she was too busy remembering all the murder mysteries she had read; she was figuring out a plan to kill Niou) she learnt her last and final lesson, _lesson seven._

_**Major life decision**: Make sure your panic room, escape plan and final will is ready because life has decided to throw a fucking tantrum again._

* * *

_Notes: _*these are French swear words that I typed out of a random picture. I don't know if they're right though. And their meaning are...umm _offensive _so I won't give you the meaning xD Google it if you have to :P

OMG, I did not think this chapter was going to go this way. My original plot was wayyyyy different. Wow, guess the plot's more complicated now.

Go on and guess the pairings, they're insane I promise you. But I'm not going to reveal them yet, because I haven't finalised them yet XD

How'd you like the chapter? How'd you like Sayuri? How'd you like the _drama *_wink_*?_ Tell me in a review :D

Loads of love,

~Dragonseatingme


	5. Perfection

**Mishaps and Mayhem**

**A/N **Maybe not the fastest of updates, but hey, at least I updated XD

**Guest: **I'm glad you liked it! Is this fast enough? xD

**YunaBrown: **You might not hate for her for too long ;)

**vivvy09: **I'm flattered that you like my writing style :D

**XxBloodandButterfliesxX: **Thank god the plots not overused! You'll get to understand Sayuri a little better in this chappie.

**Mangy: **THANK YOU FOR TELLING ME NIOU'S IN CHARACTER. I was so scared he was OOC *-*

**uriel's tea time: **Ship away darling XD

Thank you all for reviewing! :D And for all the readers for reading :')

_You'll find out something realllyyyy important about Kiyomi and Sayuri in this one_. ^_^

PS. Slight angst alert!

**Disclaimer **If I owned PoT, I would be a lot richer.

* * *

Chapter 5: Perfection

* * *

_**perfect**_

_adjective_

_ˈpəːfɪkt/_

_having all the required or desirable elements, qualities, or characteristics; as good as it is possible to be._

* * *

"_Back straight, chin up, don't slouch; act perfect"_

* * *

Kiyomi gazed at her aunt across the dining table.

Silence prevailed throughout the room.

Maids and butlers stood impassively in attention near the doorways ready to swoop in the minute her plate or glass became empty.

The room was so full, yet so empty.

They were sitting in the main dining hall, where her father used to hold big banquets and parties. Kiyomi usually ate in her bedroom on her own. However when her aunt demanded for her presence, they dined in the hall.

But that was rarity. Her aunt only called for her when she had something to talk about (_a.k.a. insult_).

Fancy cutlery, imported wine, the finest ingredients one could find; her aunt savoured a life like this.

Kiyomi did not.

* * *

"_Dab your mouth, don't slurp, don't spill; act perfect."_

* * *

"The sales have gone down compared to the last quarter," her aunt said finally as she swirled some wine (Merlot) in her glass.

"I am aware," said Kiyomi stiffly, and briefly glanced at her watch when her aunt looked away.

"_Fifteen minutes to go, you can do it. Control your emotions."_

Her aunt paused for a moment. She gestured for the maid to refill her glass.

Her hands lifted up her napkin to dab the corner of her mouth, and she flashed Kiyomi a thinly-veiled look of contempt.

Her aunt scrutinized her again.

"And why have you done nothing about it?" she shot back.

Kiyomi's hands clenched.

She wanted to scream at her; tell her she was only sixteen and not an adult. She was human, not perfection. She wanted to rip all the false smiles, bows, masks; everything.

She wanted to give her secrets away.

But she didn't say anything.

Instead-

"We are working on it. The economic status of the world isn't great right now," she replied, itching for the meeting to get over. The urge was getting stronger.

Her aunt raised her eyebrows slightly at her reply.

"Working on it? Pray tell, how exactly?"

"Michael is having a board meeting right now."

"_Michael,_ a foreigner handling it?" her aunt scoffed.

Kiyomi _hated _when she did that.

Her right hand fingers involuntarily moved toward her left hand. She immediately froze. She had that feeling again.

Desire was eating her up.

Her aunt smiled.

She bowed her head slightly to calm herself down, and then raised it and looked directly into her aunt's eyes, "Michael is one of the best men we have in the company."

"Is that so?" Her aunt regarded her coolly. "Then wouldn't the sales have never have gone down in the first place?"

She could feel blood on her palm. She had scratched herself again.

The urge became stronger.

Her aunt continued, "The last quarter's sales weren't great either, plus the growth rate was very low. The company is going to shambles."

Kiyomi began feeling angry. She could feel it pulsing through her body, boiling her blood.

She didn't know how long she could handle it.

"_This is what she wants. Calm down Kiyomi, calm down."_

Her aunt was enjoying it.

"This is what happens when you exclude family from businesses. A bloody foreigner handling our company; what brother was thinking I cannot fathom. But then again he wasn't the sharpest tool in the box."

Her aunt smiled lighting her face up with heartlessness.

"Left _you _in charge didn't he?"

She was losing control.

* * *

"_Head high, mask on, no weaknesses; act perfect."_

* * *

"Oh I remember that day like yesterday. You're so much like your mother you know; stupid, reckless, no care for the family's name. You should be grateful, you little bitch. Heaven's knows what a state you would have been in if it weren't for me; living with those pathetic _peasants."_

A beat.

"_Peasants"_

A beat.

"_Your mother"_

A beat.

"_Your father" _

The urge hit her hard. She wouldn't last longer.

"I had to sign all those forms, spend all those sleepless nights worrying about you. And _this _what I get? Oh honey, you are going down like a sinking ship; slowly and softly, and suddenly one day you're going to find out that you're completely gone."

"Washed away like a piece of wood."

Her aunt leaned forward slightly and whispered, but it reached Kiyomi clearly. "Just like your parents."

That was it.

Kiyomi snapped.

"_SHUT UP!" _

She pushed her chair back and knocked her glass down.

It fell with a crash; a dark red stain spreading across the expensive Turkish carpet.

It resembled her life.

Her aunt's eyes were triumphant.

She had broken first.

_(again)_

* * *

"_Façade up, happy face on, pretend to be interested; act perfect"_

* * *

Her aunt was a beautiful person. Easily the most beautiful person Kiyomi had ever seen.

She had the same chiselled nose as her father; flawless skin, long silky black hair and mysterious dark eyes.

She carried herself like royalty, but then again, the Miyazaki family was practically royalty anyway.

Her aunt was perfect. So _fucking _perfect.

So much like Kiyomi, yet so _so_ different.

They called her _Miss Perfection; _considered her an angel.

But angels were perfect, Kiyomi was not.

After all _perfection _was nothing but a game to please the world.

After her outburst, her aunt moved out of the room with the grace of a swan, her face lit with cold-blooded joy.

She had lost the round.

But it wasn't the first time her aunt had pushed her buttons till she broke.

Her aunt specialised at that- breaking someone down without lifting a finger.

After all her mouth was enough.

* * *

"_Darker angles roam the night, hiding their secrets from God, with sunny smiles and bloody knives."_

* * *

Kiyomi lived by five rules.

One was to _always _be perfect on the outside.

Two was to be genuinely nice to everyone she met, so that no one would _ever _doubt her.

Three was to never ever let anyone in, never let anyone find out.

Four was to try to convince herself that she _was_ perfect_. _

And five was that only when no one was around, when no one could figure out how _pathetic _she really was, could she be who she exactly was.

The room was empty, everyone left after she shattered to pieces.

The red stain had spread all over the carpet.

All that was left was the silence, the ghosts of the past and Kiyomi herself.

She reached for her pocket and her fingers found what she was craving so _badly._

Finally she let go.

* * *

"_Oh darker angels roam the night; they'll suck you in with their smiles, but once you're in, can you get out, without being stabbed by their knives?"_

* * *

Sayuri glanced at her watch. The dial showed her that it was exactly half past five. She was early.

Far too early, considering the fact that not one of the members had arrived and she was the only one around.

For Sayuri it was pretty late actually. She woke up every morning without fail at four a.m.

She jogged across her estate and stretched for about an hour, and spent the rest of the morning practising her dance until school began.

Sayuri was the Principle ballerina of the Ballet club of Rikkai. She was a beautiful dancer; the best Rikkai had ever had.

Even if half the school hated her guts and the other half were scared of her; no one could deny her skills at dance.

Rikkaidai's ballet club owed its success at competitions solely to Sayuri.

She started dance at the age of four and ever since she first fell in love with it, she had worked like a madwoman at perfecting her style.

For Sayuri anything below perfection was _wrong._

A step out of beat, an error in timing, a wrong move; she hated them all. Her policy was to never, under any circumstance, be less then who she could be.

That was why she despised people who didn't work hard like she did, didn't take the effort she took, didn't take the interest they should.

She hated people who could have been perfect but chose not to.

Sayuri had woken up at three that day, so she could complete her routine before coming to school.

After an intense dancing session with her choreographer, Sayuri changed in her uniform in record time and set out to school at around five fifteen.

She loved crisp mornings during autumn. They reminded her of better times, when she didn't have to worry about her looks, about her style, about _perfection_.

All she did was dance, dance, dance; and she loved it.

But everything changed one night.

They say change was inevitable, and first loves hurt the most; Sayuri found herself experiencing both.

After all, she wasn't always so perfect.

But she let go, like how trees let go of leaves, how a child finally lets go of its mother.

And suddenly the world seemed a slightly bit brighter yet duller to her.

But sacrifices hurt don't they?

* * *

Only at around five forty five did the Regulars start trickling in.

Yukimura arrived first, and flashed her a gentle smile before walking into the Locker Room to change.

Sanada came in a few minutes later, and ignored her completely when he passed by.

Sayuri couldn't stop her heart from skipping slightly when she saw him.

She couldn't help but fall in love all over again whenever she got a glimpse of him.

She was so far gone, that she didn't know what to do.

Sayuri had tried her best, she'd tried so hard to stop liking him; but she couldn't.

She loved him because Sanada was so damn perfect.

It hurt her beyond belief whenever he disregarded her, ignored her or glared at her. She did like him; she did imagine a future for them; was it wrong to tell the world about it?

She could still remember the day she first saw him…

"_Snap out of it Sayuri," _she thought to herself. "_Remember the reason you joined in the first place."_

Contrary to what people thought, Sayuri did not join the Tennis Club to get closer to Sanada. Quite the opposite actually.

She joined the club to get _over _Sanada.

She didn't want any other person to become manager because she _needed _this position. She needed to get the closure.

She needed to finally understand that he didn't like her at all; didn't get the same fluttery feelings in his heart, the heady feeling in his mind nor the same joy his presence brought her.

He was the tree- solid, strong, unbreakable; while she was flower destined to wither and die.

Yet every time he did anything, a small stupid part of her heart would believe he _did _like her, shooting even the smallest things out of proportion.

How many had she fallen in and out of the maze you call love?

This was her last chance to finally let go.

But she didn't want anyone else to know that.

Sayuri wasn't stupid. She wasn't naïve. She knew the school hated her, she knew what they spoke about her.

The thing was she didn't care if she hurt people, she didn't care if she caused pain, broke relationships, scared people.

She didn't care that she was a bitch.

She didn't insult people who didn't deserve it. She strongly believed that by publically shaming people, they would work harder, put in more effort.

Become more like _her._

She believed herself to be an antihero; working for the greater good, in a twisted dark way that no one could understand.

That thought was the only thing that kept her afloat amidst all the dislike and hatred she was surrounded by.

* * *

After the captain and vice-captain arrived, the other regulars came in soon enough and practice started without a hitch.

She met Yukimura just before they started their laps.

"Good morning Yukimura-san." She flashed her super-polite smile at him.

"Good morning Hoshino-san," he greeted her with a nod; not like one would greet a friend, but how one would greet an acquaintance. Perfectly politely though.

"I thank you so much for accepting my application." Sayuri bowed slightly.

"We thank you for applying Hoshino-san. I hope it is not a terrible inconvenience for you due to your other activities."

Sayuri laughed gently.

"No no not at all Yukimura-san. I wouldn't have applied otherwise. I only ask you to give me an advance notice if you were to schedule any event that requires my presence."

"Of course. The managerial work required by the club isn't much; we just need to you to document training schedules, player stats, equipment usage etc. etc. Plus since there are two of you, there won't be too much trouble."

Sayuri froze for a second.

"_Two of us?"_

"I'm sorry Yukimura-san, did you say _two _of us?"

Yukimura sighed inaudibly.

"Yes Hoshino-san. The other applicant Izumi Amaya hasn't arrived yet."

Sayuri reflected for a second.

"_Izumi Amaya. Anaga Tyumi."_

Sayuri has never felt more stupid before.

"Now there isn't much one can do today but watch. Why don't you seat yourself in bleachers Hoshino-san? We will introduce you to everyone when your second in command arrives."

Sayuri nodded numbly and moved toward the bleachers.

"_Stupid, stupid, stupid. How did you not figure it out? A message from Sanada-san, pffft. You made such a fool out of yourself."_

Sayuri often wondered how she projected herself to everyone. A rich bitchy bimbo who was a father's little girl? Probably.

But she was so much more than that, but her pride refused to let others see it.

"_Let them think I'm an idiot. At least they won't know who I actually am."_

She wondered how this Izumi Amaya would be. Pretty? Charming? _Perfect?_

Sayuri couldn't do anything but wait for her to arrive before she could analyse her.

Since she was late, Sayuri thought of cancelling perfect from her list.

Perfect people are _never _late.

At around six thirty Sayuri heard someone panting near the gate.

A girl around her age stood there trying to catch her breath.

"_So this is Amaya Izumi."_

Sayuri stared at her and her nose crinkled in distaste.

Her first impression of Amaya wasn't great.

Her shortness, hastily thrown on uniform, along with her wind-blown hair, made her undeniably not perfect.

Sayuri relaxed. Amaya was nothing compared to her.

After all Sayuri was the closest to perfection anyway.

* * *

Amaya was late; horribly late in fact. Her parents were not in town, so it was up to Amaya herself to wake on time.

Did she? _Obviously not._

Her alarm rang at five; the tune of heavy metal filled her room. Despite the heavy guitar riffs, the crazy drums and psychedelic screaming, Amaya did not budge.

She had chosen the loudest music she could find; what an epic fail that was.

After about twenty minutes, her phone went sort of crazy (she had dropped it the previous night) and started playing all the songs in her playlist.

After going past tons of heavy metal songs, it played a soft ballad which caused Amaya to wake up with a start.

She found a balled louder than metal because, you know, screw logic.

Amaya groaned and she reached for her phone, only to find it was five thirty.

Forgetting her meeting, she figured it was too early to be awake and fell asleep again.

_Obviously._

Sadly her dreams of swimming in a pool of chocolate wearing a banana suit were ruined when her phone rang loudly.

"_WAKE UP AMAAYAAA. PICK UP AMAAYAA. GET FOOD FOR ME AMAAYAA."_

Silver Head had personalised his ringtone.

"_Stupid Silver" _Amaya thought and rolled over.

"_Silver Head."_

She shot out of bed in shock.

"_SHIT. Meeting."_

She threw her covers off, and was about to scramble out of bed, but she suddenly froze.

She debated whether to get out of bed or not.

After all she was screwed _and_ late anyway, what difference would it make if she didn't turn up?

As if he were reading her mind, her phone began to ring again.

"_AMAAYAA GET HERE NOW. AMAAYAA I AM BORED. AMAAYAA GET ME A DRINK"_

She stared at the device darkly as if it were the source of all her misery.

Yes she would have to go, or else Silver Head would figure out a way to torture her for the rest of the school year.

Oh wait he had already done that.

Not only had he made her his brand new girlfriend- a.k.a. slave- he somehow got hold of her phone number as well.

So the entire evening of the previous day was spent receiving texts from Silver Head relentlessly.

His message tone was even worse.

"_IF YOU DO NOT READ THIS MESSAGE IN THE NEXT TEN SECONDS YOUR PHONE WILL BLOW UP."_

She read them quickly the first few times because of all the _Mission Impossibles _she had seen.

After the first three times or so, she decided to screw it and not do it- only to read the message after nine seconds.

It was Niou; god knows it might actually blow up.

Most messages she got from him were extremely irritating.

Silver Head thought it was a wonderful idea to send a message every time he did _anything._

Amaya received messages like-

_I just ate my dinner. _

_I just went to the bathroom._

_My mother spoke to me._

_Yay. _(No seriously this was one of the messages she got)

When questioned on why exactly he was sending her his every life update, he told her it was because people who were dating told each other everything that happens to them.

It wasn't his fault he was the only one who was taking active effort in the relationship.

After hearing that Amaya decided to attack back too. After all a one-sided war isn't fun.

_Niou: I washed my hands with soap._

_Amaya: I pity the water and soap. Your hands are so infested._

_Niou: Nope. The soap is honoured, it just told me._

_Amaya: A talking soap Silver? Really?_

_Niou: You're just jealous of Miss Soapy. Both of us are in love._

_Amaya: If both of you are in a relationship then that's awesome. I can just imagine the headlines. "Boy and Soap get married in lavish wedding. Notable guests include- Mr Dish and Dishy, Miss Tablecloth, and Mr Germ"_

_Niou: It will be fairy-tale wouldn't it? And you can stand in the corner of my wedding and cry because you could have been up there with me._

_Amaya: ARE YOU INDIRECTLY, IN THAT TWISTED WAY OF YOURS, PROPOSING?_

_Niou: Depends on your answer._

_Amaya: NO WAY. Go to hell._

_Niou: You'll be there with me after anyway._

_Amaya: Duh, I've spoken to YOU, so Satan's got a special place for me in there. Now go and smooch your girlfriend, I'm busy._

_Niou: Daaarling if you're jealous just tell me, I can come over and kiss you right now._

_Amaya: Your lips and my lips will never join. EVER._

_Niou: What about the other parts?_

_Amaya: I'LL PRETEND I NEVER READ THAT. GROOOOOSS. YOU DISGUST ME SILVER HEAD._

_Niou: It's my…..pleasure._

_Amaya: Urghh._

If you thought that was bad, some of the other texts Niou sent were even worse.

Due to her horrendous Kanji, she accidently typed '_Clothes off' _instead of '_Shut up'._

_How the hell did that even happen?_

The reply she received was filled with so many sexual innuendoes that she had to hit herself multiple times with a pillow to get the thoughts out of her mind.

"_Stupid Silver Head"_

After finally waking up, Amaya literally, rammed all the books she could into her bag, threw on her uniform, grabbed her shoes and socks, stuffed a slice of bread into her mouth and ran like cat after a mouse (or the opposite).

-Only to come back a few minutes later to get another water bottle; Silver Head would have screwed her if she didn't.

There wasn't any time to wait for a bus, so she ran up to school barefoot, clutching her bag in her hand.

She got some pretty weird looks from the bystanders.

Perhaps it was also because her _stupid phone wouldn't stop ringing. _

"_AMAAYAA WHY WON'T YOU PICK UP? AMAAYAA I'M HUNGRY. AMAAYAAAAAAA."_

Honestly, when did he have time to record it?

She had tried changing it, but the stupid thing wouldn't work.

Figures Silver Head would be a genius when it comes to phone software as well.

She thought of picking up, but decided not to.

She didn't have the patience to deal with Silver's idiocy now.

After running for twenty minutes, Amaya found herself in front of Rikkaidai. She was panting like a dog; her body was _not _made for sprint running.

Looking at her watch she realised she was half an hour late.

"_Not too bad considering I woke up at five forty five."_

Amaya decided to stop for a minute catch her breath, and at least _try _to look more presentable.

She took stock of her belongings.

Her tie was roughly tied to her bag, whose zip was open. Her socks were rolled into her shoes which she held in her hand. Her hair was a mess, strands flying in all directions.

"_Perfect," _she thought sarcastically.

After wearing shoes over her aching feet (_Note to self: Never run barefoot again.)_ she tied up her hair in a messy bun- the only hairstyle she could pull off that would make it seem like she had never ran more than a mile and simply _wanted _it to look like that.

Then with all the confidence she could muster, Amaya walked towards the tennis courts.

Her phone had died, because she forgot to charge it the previous night due to certain _messages. _

At least the hideous ringtone stopped.

She reached the courts panting- _who knew the tennis courts were so far?_

When she opened the gate, nine pairs of eyes stared at her in surprise, judging her openly. She could see Silver Head smirking at her.

"_Brilliant. Eight people who think I'm crazy and one who is having the time of his life."_

Silence.

"So did you bring me a water bottle daarling?"

Eye twitch.

* * *

HOW'D YOU LIKE IT? :D

I hope you get to understand Sayuri and Kiyomi a little more now. :)

God I used the word perfect so much in this chapter *_*

I love writing Amaya so much, but this ending was just pure indulgence on my part xD

How is the story progressing? Anything I should improve on? Any requests? TELL ME IN THE REVIEWS :D

Thanks for reading! :D

~Dragonseatingme


	6. Of Opinions

**Mishaps and Mayhem**

**A/N: **Whaaaaats up my peeps? XD Yay new chapter :D

_Thanks you notes! ~_

**Mangy: **Niou's not OOC, yay! Thanks for the review :)

**pinkus-pyon: **I don't understand Spanish, but thank anyway XD

**Perishing angel: **Don't worry you'll get your Niou x Amaya moments :D Thanks!

**YunaBrown: **Yay you've started liking them! :D Thanks for the review :)

**YuhiZael: **Thank you! :D

_I may or may not have introduced a new OC in this chappie. You guys tell me if you like her _^_^

**Disclaimer: **I do not own PoT. Sadly my dreams will never come true when it comes to that.

* * *

Chapter 6: Of Opinions

* * *

"Okay girls we're going to split into pairs and have light rallies. Don't over-exert yourselves, this is just a warm up session. Off you go!"

Kiyomi smiled, as the members of her tennis team scurried off to the free courts in the girls' half of the numerous courts in Rikkai. Although the boys' team presided over a greater number, the girls still had more than enough courts to hold practice without having share with them.

Rikkai's tennis teams had always shared greater popularity and success than any other sports club because the school always provided more funds to them since they regularly came back victorious from tournaments.

As most other girl sport teams, only a very small number of players were truly dedicated to the game. The rest of them only joined because they either wanted to show off their legs by wearing short skirts or to ogle at the members of boys' team. The girls' tennis team especially faced this problem in higher numbers because of how exceptionally good looking the boys' team was. Up until the present year, most students would drop off in the first week because the gruelling practice sessions they would have to go through. Towards the end of the month, only a quarter of the original number would remain, out of which they would choose their regulars.

This was not the case this year.

Because of the abysmal performance in last year's Nationals, the Rikkai girls' team had suffered a huge loss of self-esteem and prestige. Not only did half the club quit, barely any first years even joined the ranks, slashing school funding by half. Kiyomi was left trying to steer a team, half drowning in the waters of shame and hopelessness, back to what it used to be.

Out of the fifty- strong team they had last year, it had come down to fifteen out of which five were first years who had never lifted a racquet before.

Kiyomi had been one half of the doubles one team along with her senpai, Akiyama Keiko who had quit after the- what they deemed 'The Great -we're-never-going-to-recover- Tragedy' and changed schools. Four of the Regulars had been third years and had graduated already. Three second years- now third years- had joined a multitude of different clubs and had faded away into the vast population of Rikkai to hide from the onslaught of shame.

Contrary to what everyone saw, Kiyomi was hurting the most from resignation of her seniors. She hadn't been part of the team that played that horrendous match against an unseeded team- Seika High- and crashed out of the Regionals in the third round. She had injured her ankle in the previous match, and was forced to sit out. Not that playing the match would have made any difference.

The next thing she knew, the team had resigned and one of the only friends she had, who had been partners with her since the beginning of middle school; who had held her hand up in victory as they lifted the Nationals trophy for three years in running; who had pushed her up when she felt that she was falling falling falling; who had counselled her, got her out of trouble, been the older sister she never had; who had told her to stand up, wipe her brow, shake of her tiredness and then fight every match whether they were winning or losing, with everything she had _every single time_; who promised she would be there for her _forever_ one summer morning; who tried so hard to get Kiyomi back together;was suddenly gone. Gone without a word, without an warning.

Akiyami Keiko was more than just her senpai and doubles partner, she was the reason Kiyomi was standing where she was today.

She wasn't even sure whether she could play tennis without her anymore.

* * *

Kiyomi had walked in to the courts that morning expecting at least twenty new members, but only found seven. But one had to work with what one had.

She soon found some talent hidden away in some of the girls who had previously been second stringers. That brightened up her day slightly, knowing that there might be a light at the end of the tunnel, and they did have a chance of salvaging their name, and bringing back pride to the club. It would take crazy practicing, insane amounts of effort and sheer motivation and strength to come forth victorious in the tournaments; and Kiyomi wasn't sure of what to do.

She knew there was a lot of pressure on them, pressure to be better, pressure to prove to the school that they were not _pathetic, _pressure to prove themselves to be part of Rikkaidai.

When she gazed at her new teammates, she was sure that they were ready as hell to prove everyone wrong too.

Kiyomi wasn't exact captain material. She was the only remaining member of the original Regulars, so she was made captain. Kiyomi couldn't motivate, she couldn't drive passion into people. She couldn't scream until her voice became hoarse at the players for them to get better. She wasn't even the best player out there. As a doubles player, she was very good, but she could never play singles. The greater role of her captaincy was played by Kimura Maiko who could tell a six-foot, heavily muscled guy that he was _pretty _and get away with it.

They had found their manager in the last few weeks before the 'Tragedy'. Kimura Maiko was a bright go-lucky girl who spent half her time either talking away at the rate of an express train or in deep contemplation judging you darkly with her bright blue eyes. She was the biggest History buff you could find in the school, becoming president of the History Club in her first year; so memorizing facts and data was as easy as abc for her. Since she spent most of her time reading up on war and current affairs, and hence her eye for details as well as strategies was very good. (Due to this craze, her personality had taken a slight battering as well)

She was also very convincing and charismatic, often sweet talking her way into various shops and restaurants and getting free stuff. Maiko was the main reason the Press hadn't harassed the team too much after the loss. Rumours had it that she had talked a magazine from publishing a scathing article about the team and had it converted into a an article featuring each one of the Regulars' moves. (Oh and she also got a free subscription). Maiko also had a mean knuckle punch which she used on girls who didn't practice. Right in the cheek- left to be precise. (It would hurt for a few minutes before disappearing, but the bruise would remain on the girl's face for at least a week. The punch had gotten her into with the teachers trouble many times)

Maiko, at the present moment, was watching all the members rally, noting down stats occasionally. She was in her 'Silent Killer' mode, and everyone knew not to disturb her then.

Kiyomi glanced towards the Boys' courts where she was greeted with a very amusing sight. A girl around her age had run up to the courts and was panting. Her hair was an absolute mess, and a small part of Kiyomi wanted to run up and fix it immediately. But the larger part of her watched in entertainment as the girl fiddled with her thumbs while the befuddled Regulars openly stared at her. Finally Niou-kun walked up to her and said something that caused the girl to blanch and gaze wide-eyed at the boys. After which Kiyomi could only desperately try to stifle her laughter as the girl tried and failed horribly at bowing and promptly fell on her butt. Niou-kun was laughing maniacally at the poor girl as she got up, dusted her skirt and raised her hands in sign of apology or greeting Kiyomi could not tell. The girl then turned around and said something sharply to Niou-kun which only served to make him laugh more.

Sadly, Sanada-san walked up, and Niou clamped up and moved back to the court where he was playing Kuwahara-kun.

Kiyomi immediately warmed up to the girl. There was just something in her eyes, as she threw her hands up in the air trying to explain a point to stoic Sanada-san. He glared slightly impatiently at the girl, and although Kiyomi had never spoke to her, the childish way with which she held herself, and that full-blown grin she flashed at everyone made her instantly likable. Maybe it was also the fact that she seemed completely immune to all the stares she was getting from the players.

Kiyomi looked back at her own team, and moved to see how they were progressing before finding a girl to rally only to have a large book thrust near her face. Kiyomi looked down to see neatly printed notes of various skills and weaknesses of all the members of the club. She looked up to see the Maiko beaming at her flashing a victory symbol with her fingers, finally emerged from her silence.

"Kiyomiiiii-chan, I've got down the details of where we have to focus on, as well as strengths and potential of the players we have. We'll need to sit down and break it down to make training manuals sometime. Perhaps tomorrow? Not today because I have a History Club meeting, first one of the new year. OMG I'm so excited. Are you excited? Wait why would you be excited? I have a good feeling about it. How 'bout you Kiyomi-chan, excited for anything?" Maiko raced at the top of her voice. Kiyomi just shook her head in amusement, used to her friends unstoppable tongue.

"Maybe going to get a _boyfriend?"_

Maiko paused there and raised her eyebrows and wriggled them crazily, grinning, prompting Kiyomi to let out a small snort of unladylike laughter.

"Whoa slow down there. It's just the first practice; we can do the training manuals later. Let the newbies settle down first, and then we'll move on."

A pause.

"Oh and no I'm not going to get a boyfriend this year."

"But whyyyyy Kiyomi-chan? You're so pretty, any guy will be more than willing to have you."

Maiko whined as she followed Kiyomi to an empty court with a wall throwing her hands in the air.

"I heard the basketball captain, Ikeda-senpai, is single. Plus he's super-hot, like super super hot."

Kiyomi rolled her eyes. "Ikeda-senpai has slept with over five girls, had ten girlfriends and cheated on eight of them. Do you really think he's a role model for good boyfriends?"

Maiko winked. "But _have _you seen his abs? So _dreamy._"

Kiyomi almost screamed out in exasperation. "Only you Kimura Maiko would choose looks over personality."

Maiko shrugged. "Hey if I had your looks I would actually use them and not act like a high and mighty princess all the time."

Kiyomi sputtered.

"You can have any guy in the world, but you don't. You're so weird Miyazaki Kiyomi. So effing weird."

Kiyomi walked the side of her head slightly. "Just because I don't have a boyfriend doesn't make me a different species."

"Can't deny the truth love," Maiko said. "And think about it, you desperately need new friends. Start with a boyfriend, trust me they're awesome. I know from experience."

She wolfishly grinned and winked at her and before turning around and leaving. Kiyomi shook her head at Maiko's antics. She spent most of her time goading Kiyomi into getting a boyfriend claiming it was for her own good. She even tried to trap her in a cupboard with a cute classmate the previous year, which resulted in her spraining her ankle. According to Maiko, Kiyomi needed more love in her life, which was true but not required.

Kiyomi didn't want a boyfriend. Period.

She picked up her racquet and a ball and turned to face the wall. For a second she paused and savoured the feeling of the air tussling her locks, the feel of the racquet in her hands and the kick she got from standing in the court. She opened her eyes, and slowly began hitting the ball against the wall rhythmically, and soon found a comfortable beat and settled into it.

She could almost feel Keiko-senpai standing next to her rallying at the exact same speed, two balls simultaneously being hit in complete sync with each other. She could hear the steady breathing of her partner, and could imagine the look of concentration on her face.

Suddenly the ball fell flat as her racquet missed it, and Kiyomi had her eyes open staring at the wall in shock. She looked frantically around her to find Keiko-senpai nowhere in sight.

Kiyomi immediately found her body unable to lift her racquet and play again.

* * *

"-so if I miss practice, they're not going to kill me?"

"No they won't. Sanada might glare because he's an old man and doesn't believe in irresponsibility, but he's too much of a gentleman to scream at a girl."

A glance is thrown in the direction of the vice-captain.

"Are you sure?"

"No, he _will _scream at you."

A pair of eyebrows is raised.

"And he'll make you run laps. Probably make you join out training from hell too."

"_Sarcasm- _Oh how I hate you when you're used against me."

"Daarling, I'm surprised you even _get _sarcasm."

"Stop being mean."

"I think that's the tenth time you've told me that today."

A sulk.

"One must not tell lies. Now give me your water bottle."

"Connard."

"I'm going to disregard what you just called me and take your water bottle anyway. On the side note; _where _did you learn to swear like that?"

"Your mother taught me."

"Now now, that's plain rude darling. Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed?"

"Gee no shit Sherlock."

"I take you're not a morning person."

"Well I'm not sunshine and rainbows any other time either, but yes, Morning and I broke up because it was jealous of my relationship with my bed."

"Aw did you cry your heart out?"

"Nope, I just spent more time with my bed."

A pause.

"You don't have to come to school for morning practice. You'll stab someone."

"Yes I will; most probably you. Thank you! Now I don't have to drag my sorry ass out of bed until I have to so as to not miss school. It's _way _too early for my brain to even _function. _I mean c'mon, why would you do this to yourselves? Isn't it horrible missing out on sleep and running around like madmen around a court chasing a ball. Sanada-san screams too much in the morning, far too much. Don't you think he screams to much? And all you do is nod. The Japanese-Harry Potter is way to bouncy too. Did you see how he was jumping around today? God so much energy. I wish I could suck that energy out. No one should have that much energy. And and-"

"My my aren't you chatty right now."

"Too early for proper conversation."

"People don't speak at all, and just glare whenever they're asked a question in the morning. You on the other hand are talking far too much. Just seconds ago you were planning on becoming a potential murderer and now you're rambling like a kid on sugar. What are you taking? "

"Nothing. When I haven't woken up properly yet, I don't control what I say. It's like verbal diarrhoea. I just shoot out whatever comes to my mind. So I usually insult people horribly in the morning, since there's no filter between my thoughts and words. Plus my personality takes two extreme ends in the morning too. You know the other day Mum woke me up really early because I had to take Bingo for a walk, and there was this old lady and she was sorta hunch-backed, so I went up to her and held her hand told her that even if she were hunch-backed and ugly I would love her forever and she just stared at me like I was crazy and walked away. I think she thought I was insane. But I am insane like one day-"

"Wait _what_? You told a random old lady that you'll love her forever. Why the hell would you do that?"

A shrug.

"I don't know it seemed like a pretty good idea then. I went back to her and when she saw me, she removed her phone and I thought she was going to call the police thinking I was drunk so I scrammed. I then saw a baby and made it cry because I felt evil, and wanted to use my power over the innocent. Maybe I will become a psychopath. Seems like a pretty good job. Anyway I only figured out what I had done when I went back home, fell asleep and woke up a few hours later. God that was _so _embarrassing."

A pause.

"Wait, why did I tell you all this."

A smirk.

"Shit, you're _never _going to let me live this down will you?"

"Nope. I even got it on camera."

"What even?"

"Don't worry; he does that all the time."

Niou looked up from where he was sitting to see the face of the self-proclaimed tensai, Marui Bunta. He had an easy smile on his face as he blew a bubble and popped it. He gave a Niou a slight nod in acknowledgement and leaned towards his companion sitting next to him.

Amaya held her face in her hands, a sign of over-exaggerated embarrassment. Her hair was still as untidy as it had been when she had come running into the courts late. Her uniform was in a slightly better condition as she had excused herself to the restroom to fix it. But when questioned about her abysmal hairdo, she laughed sheepishly and told him she hadn't brought a comb, and simply tied it randomly.

Sayuri had gasped loudly when she heard that.

Amaya glanced up when she heard a new voice and looked up to see a bubble pop right in front of her face, nearly touching her nose. Violet eyes belonging to a bright haired boy gazed down at her in amusement; so close she could see the clear twinkle in his eye.

"He always has that camera hidden somewhere in his body, ready to bring it out the moment there's something embarrassing to film."

Marui straightened and smiled again.

"Yeah I can picture that, Silver springing into action like a lion leaping on its prey the moment he sees something that could be potentially used for blackmail," Amaya muttered under her breath, still miffed with her confession.

"I feel I'm more of a tiger sort of guy."

"Only lions have the same untidy, ugly looking mane like you do."

"_Puri, _at least I'm the king of the jungle."

Marui looked at the pair arguing in front of him, entertained. If possible his eyes twinkled even more. He stuck out his hand toward Amaya and said, "I don't think we've been properly introduced yet. My name is Marui Bunta, Rikkai's resident genius and one half of Japan's best doubles team."

Amaya took his hand, smiled and replied, "Hello Mr Genius, I'm Amaya Izumi or Izumi Amaya, or whatever. It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too Izumi-chan. You had a pretty awesome entrance back her."

Amaya groaned. "Don't remind me of it please."

"No no chill, I've seen worse."

"Of course you have fatty."

Marui glared at Niou. "But still you're way cooler than the other manager, she's a total bitch."

Amaya looked slightly surprised at the venom with which he spat that out. "History between you guys?"

"Between me and her? Nope. But with the Tennis club? Yeah."

"Long story?"

"Pretty much."

Amaya laughed softly.

"Now tell me how do you know this idiot here?"

Marui pointed his thumb to Niou in an off-hand manner as he gestured to Amaya to move over slightly so that he could sit down on the bench too. Amaya acquiesced and moved to her right closer to Niou. She tucked her knees under her chin in slight contemplation before answering.

"Oh Silver? We're classmates."

"Classmates? So eager to dismiss our love I see."

Marui shot them a puzzled look.

"Amaaya and I are dating."

Marui chocked out incredulously, "Dating?!"

Amaya rolled her eyes. "Fake dating."

"_Fake dating?!"_

"Yeah I was conned into it. Stupid Silver screwed up, so he dragged me with him when he fell."

"She's exaggerating. We both got into it together. On that note, it would beat the purpose of fake-dating, if you go around telling everyone that we are in fact, not in love."

"_Together?! _Conard, it's completely your fault. Plus he's your teammate, so have a little faith in him."

"Yeah have a little faith in me."

"Darling, I will have faith in that guy when he admits he has an addiction problem with cakes."

"I am _not _addicted."

"Yeah yeah," Niou drawled, "keep telling yourself that and one day I'll believe it."

"Over your silver hair."

"Wait wait, how do you even _have _silver hair? Did you dye it, or are you prematurely greying?" Amaya asked inquisitively.

Before Niou could even answer Amaya continued speaking.

"For that matter, why does _everyone _have weird hair? Like Yukimura-san, Kuwahara-san- or more lack thereof in this case- even _you _Marui-san. Did you dye it too?"

Marui laughed.

"I didn't dye it; I was just born with it. It's just like lighter red hair."

Amaya gave him a look of suspicion before focusing on Niou.

"I was born with it too. _Puri."_

Amaya looked dubiously at the two before sighing and letting it go. There were some things in life she never got. Hair was one of them. Her dad had nice hair; her mum had amazing hair, while she got stuck with a mane of thick impossible to handle hair. It was like a freakin' bad hair day _every day. _Pretty frustrating for a sixteen year old girl with very little time on her hands.

Oh well, not much you can do anyway.

* * *

Niou couldn't help but grin slightly at the girl sitting next to him. She was far too amusing for her own good. He looked at her- properly- assessing her features.

His sharp eyes noticed even the smallest details like the small mole she had on her chin, the exact colour of hair- dark dark black like a pit with no end- the flecks of dark blue in her greenish eyes- how they kept changing ever so slightly. He moved down her slender neck. She was very pale like she had spent most of her childhood locked up. Her hands were dainty but he could see slight callouses near her fingers. He could tell she used to do some form of physical sport but hadn't worked on it for some time. As she sat there laughing at something Marui said, he noticed something peculiar about the way she looked at him. Her eyes didn't seem to focus on him at all; it felt as though she was talking to a ghost- something transparent- something that didn't capture her attention as a whole. No she wasn't looking away from Marui, she was looking exactly _at _him, but there was something, something strange, something that unsettled him. But he shrugged of the thought when he heard her turn around to face him.

She wasn't Sayuri, nor was she Kiyomi, that is she wasn't beautiful or cute or any other adjective you'd use to describe a girl who caught your eye.

Amaya was _different. _That was the only thing you could say about her. She didn't have the aura of a native Japanese, but she didn't feel particularly _foreign _either. She was stuck somewhere in the middle, a world where no one enter, which shouldn't exist.

Niou felt he could understand her completely at times despite knowing her for what three days? Because Amaya was so predictable, gave the reactions like every other reader-cum-geek he had met. She exclaimed when he knew she would; sulked when he used words he _knew _would make her childish. After the first time she startled him with her reaction to his prank, she never surprised him again.

People were classified into three categories in Niou's mind- the Popular/Proud/Self-aware people like Sayuri and Marui; the Kind/Responsible/_Boring _people like Kiyomi and Sanada; and finally the Slightly Exciting/Differently Thinking/Reader people like Yanagi and _Amaya. _Only Yukimura didn't fall into any category because he was _Yukimura_ –aperson no one could ever understand.

Once he classified someone, Niou could understand everything about them. People were so predictable, everyone has a set of behaviour skills, everyone-however unique they tried to be- tend to always share the same personality quirks- bland and _boring. _

Niou was gifted with a startling sense of perception, and it was because of _these_ amazing skills he could copy anyone. Once you're classified, Niou can wreak havoc with your life.

Amaya, despite her initial appeal, slowly faded into the techno-colour like her fellow beings. Yes she was different; yes she reacted unlike many people he had met; but Amaya in the end, after everything, still fell prey to the insipidity of human nature.

Even with her eccentricities, she was still not interesting enough, because she was classified.

But there were moments, moments Niou rarely found, where he suddenly felt he couldn't understand Amaya _at all. _When she looked at him with those god-forsaken eyes- eyes that sometimes were so clear, you could see what she was thinking; but at times so opaque it felt like you were looking at your reflection. Like what was happening right now. In those rare moments when Amaya was silent or in contemplation, Niou felt as though he was looking at someone else entirely. Someone who was a shadow of the person she was earlier. It was as if the world had slowed down for a second, and Niou could see every emotion flickering across her face- and understood none of them.

He hated that. He hated that more than anything in the world. Because in those rare moments, the Amaya he knew disappeared leaving behind a silhouette, a shadow, a person he had no hopes of understanding because she never stayed for a more than a fraction of a second. Niou lived for those moments, that one second when Amaya would abandon everything.

It was _beautiful. _That was what made her special. Not her outer beauty, but that tiny flickering light inside her that shone brighter than the sun at times. Although it was a shadow it seemed to hold more meaning than everything he knew about Amaya. The shadow was to an extent her life-form brought to life. Confusing and weird, but Niou felt that was the only way to describe it. Describe the romanticism behind it.

He wanted to capture her essence, needed to like a man needs water. He wanted to figure out who she was- the girl who treated life like a joke, or the dark shadow that seemed to have seen too much.

Amaya was boring, but her shadow was not. Amaya was classified, her shadow was not. Niou wanted to crack it open, pull out every secret she hid behind those opaque eyes, and finally _finally _let her go. Which was real? Amaya or the girl she seemed to hide oh so carefully.

When Amaya spoke to Niou, he could see the shadow come to life. There it was flickering slightly in the depth of her eyes, silently watching, judging. That's why he started the fake-dating issue. Not to run away from fangirls- he didn't care about them. To break Amaya, analyse her like a doctor to a patient.

Yes he cared for her to an extent, found her extremely entertaining and useful, but those were trivial. After all, he was her for the bigger picture.

Maybe he would fall in love with her, but only for the darkness she hid inside.

* * *

Sooooooo? XD How'd you like it? Yeah yeah Niou's a little dark, but that's how I imagine he would be. There hasn't been much drama with the fake-dating yet, I know, but don't worry its coming! After I introduce a certain PoT character *wink* *wink*

There's one official pairing in the story, Sanada and Sayuri. Amaya has a another guy coming up, so her's isn't official yet. I'm not sure who I'm going to pair Kiyomi with, so I'm GIVING YOU GUYS THE CHOICE XD Tell me in the reviews, who you want her to be with :D

Oh one more thing, do you want some PoT character to be from Amaya's past? I have a sort of a vague idea, but that would involve another OC so yeah...

ANYWAY READ & REVIEW? :D

Till later,

~Dragonseatingme


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